Dow Explores Burning Plastics Waste for Energy

摘要

This spring, Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., conducted pilot tests that validated and documented the potential for energy recovery from incinerating plastics wastes. Dow found that 96% of the available energy was recovered after incinerating 578 lb of LLDPE scrap film generated in one of Dow's extrusion laboratories in a kiln at a Dow waste-treatment facility in Midland. The energy recovered was equivalent to 11.1 million Btu of natural gas and was used as fuel for the incinerator during the test. Dow's test shows "that used plastic can provide a valuable source of energy and ultimately help reduce our need for natural gas or other fossil fuels," according to Jeff Wooster, plastics sustainability leader for Dow's Performance Plastics business in North America.