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Eureka! Waste plastic makes steel
Veena Sahajwalla has shown the
steel industry that they can use waste plastic bottles to make steel.
The plastic replaces coal as a source of carbon in the steel-making process. It's been a hard sell in a conservative industry, but now steel-makers around the world are picking up her ideas. She expects to see the technology in use in Australia and the US within two years.
Her achievement wins the $10,000 University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Scientific Research.
Sahajwalla is Director of Sustainable Materials Processing Research at the University of New South Wales.
Forty per cent of the world's steel is produced in electric arc furnaces operating at 1600 ° C. "Up to 30% of the coal in these furnaces can be replaced with recycled plastic and we are aiming for more," says Sahajwalla.
"Not only does the plastic replace coal as a carbon source, it also acts as a fuel, reducing the power requirements for the furnace, and the extreme temperatures of steelmaking eliminate pollutants like dioxins."
"In Australia, we consume more than one million tonnes of plastic each year. Eighty per cent is incinerated or becomes landfill. So plastic waste remains a major environmental concern," she says.
Sahajwalla is collaborating with leading steel producers in Australia and the United States. She says they are excited about the potential of the process.
"We are currently testing mixtures of waste plastics, and we hope to implement our technology in the steel industry in Australia and the United States within the next two years."
"Veena Sahajwalla's work is solving two environmental problems at once," says Frank Howarth, Director of the Australian Museum.
"She is a joint winner of the $10,000 University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, sharing the prize with University of Sydney astrophysicist Peter Tuthill. Tuthill has captured unique infra-red images of the life and death of stars using a 130-year old technique."
This Prize is awarded for outstanding curiosity-driven scientific research, undertaken in Australia by an Australian scientist under the age of 40. It is sponsored by the University of New South Wales.
