Can You Burn Plastics?

Filed in archive Alternative Energy on August 24, 2006

Can you burn plastics? This is a very old question that has not really been answered. Some people think that burning plastics in wood stoves, furnaces, or in open fires is better than burying plastics in land fills. But this practice produces a lot of pollution and health hazards that cannot be ignored.

Let's break the problem down to size. Burning garbage produces unpredictable results when burned together. This is because garbage contains so many components that when burned, simply changes chemical form. The resulting pollutants are therefore always unknown. When you burn plastics with paper and other materials, the chemicals on them may be released unto the atmosphere or left on the ground. These will find its way into the biological systems of plants and animals and ultimately deposited into human cells and tissues. From there it may cause anything from simple allergies to more formidable conditions like Cancer.




One of the most dangerous pollutants that is produced as a result of garbage being burned together is a highly toxic chemical called Dioxin. According to Wood Heat, Dioxin does not decompose and builds up in tissues of animals and humans, and can be found in fat cells of cows and humans. The World Health Organization said

"Once dioxins have entered the environment or body, they are there to stay due to their uncanny ability to dissolve in fats and to their rock-solid chemical stability."

In incinerators, Dioxins can be destroyed but in open fires, it will be produced. To stop the incidence of toxins being produced, garbage must be segregated prior to burning.

Which leads me back to our original question, after segregating plastics from the other components of garbage (which must be recycled when applicable),can we burn them?

The answer is yes, several types of plastics can be burned. Toxins come from "Halogenated Plastics", those that are made from chlorine or fluorine, which clearly should not be burned. On the other hand, Polyethylene which is a common plastic and is not made from these chemicals can be burned. Polyethylene has the same heating value as oil and can be mixed with other fuel types easily (grounded and mixed thoroughly).

But why should we burn polyethylene, when it burns easily and produces black smoke and soot? Some researchers in India are looking at binding briquettes using polyethylene. Mixed with well ground agro-residue for use in high temperature combustion systems, polyethylene plastic can be used as a major component for char briquettes.

The most important reason for burning plastics this way is that when collected, sorted, and used as fuel, the amount of plastics used by one household on a daily basis is almost equal to the amount of plastics reused as fuel, thus solving an energy and a waste management concern.