PHOTO: The conversion plant at the Kraaifontein Integrated Waste Management facility will be able to convert 500kg of plastic into about 500 litres of heating oil daily

THE City of Cape Town has signed an agreement with a Japanese consortium to establish a pilot plastics-to-oil plant in the city. The plant will be able to convert 500kg of plastic into about 500 litres of heating oil daily. Some of the oil will be used to power a generator, while the rest will be available for sale as heating oil in industrial processes.

The pilot project, a first for a South African municipality, will be made possible through a Japanese government grant of R10m to foster technology exports from the Asian powerhouse.

The plant will provide invaluable insights into the potential for creating fuel from plastic waste diverted from landfill sites. This is a new technology for South Africa and one that is attracting considerable international interest for its potential to add significant value to recycled waste plastics.

Not only will a system such as this contribute towards solving problems related to hard-to-recycle plastics and microplastics, it also has the potential to create jobs with better earning potential for plastics recyclers.

The City said that the development and testing of the conversion plant at the Kraaifontein Integrated Waste Management facility holds “special significance”.

“The (plastics-to-oil plant) pilot project, if successful, will attract investment that generates economic growth and job creation, ensuring infrastructure-led economic development,” said Ernest Sonnenberg, Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for utility services.

The pilot project will run for six months, after which it will be assessed and decisions made on the sustainability and affordability of the pyrolysis technology — a higher-end waste-to-energy technology used for waste minimisation.