Alternative energy often means the better-known sources like
solar, wind power, or biofuels. A new form of alternative fuels
recovers energy from post-consumer or post-industrial plastic
wastes that cannot be recycled efficiently. Technologies for
creating these fuels attempt to solve two big problems: the
overabundance of unrecycled plastic in landfills, and the
creation of domestic energy sources. Several of these plastics-
to-fuel (PTF) conversion processes are on the verge of
commercialization in the US. The waste-to-energy (WTE) industry
began by approaching polymer wastes as a problem to be
eliminated, but failed to come up with financially feasible
methods, Jay Schabel, CEO of PolyFlow, told us. Previously, the
only purpose for creating fuels was burning them for heat, but
the quality and selling price of those fuels is low. Schabel
says: You can't sort your way to financially sustainable
success. With a toothbrush made of different plastics, for
example, the materials you can recover can never justify