According to the Hong Kong "Sing Tao Daily" reported that solid waste disposal has been an urgent problem to be solved in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Education in conjunction with the City University of scholars, successful research using a special catalyst, depending on the presence or absence of sunlight, respectively, will degrade plastic into carbon dioxide and organic fuel. Due to the traditional pyrolysis takes one to two hours, the first rapid technology can be significantly reduced to ten minutes, including styrofoam lunch boxes degradation time is even shorter to five minutes, is expected to be put into industrial applications within three to five years. Scholars expect that, in addition to educating the next generation to recycle plastics, the technology will eventually create a "glue-free city" in Hong Kong.
  Collaborative research by HKIEd and CityU
  At present, waste plastic accounts for as much as 20% of Hong Kong's solid waste, and is itself engaged in chemical research, the HKIEd Department of Science and Environmental Studies Associate Professor Chow Cheuk-fai, last year and the City University of Hong Kong scholars, to start for plastic degradation technology research.
  Zhou said, "Plastic is a polymer, after heating and pressure are not easily deformed, but at the same time make plastic difficult to decompose."
  He stressed that the degradation of plastic is not new, the traditional way has always been pyrolysis of plastic processing, but the traditional method takes one to two hours, and the need for strong energy to pressurize the plastic, so that the final recycling value of plastic is reduced.
  Styrofoam lunch boxes are not a problem
  Zhou Zhuohui said, first the plastic collected by machine grinding into fine gum particles, "in the water to add our research and development of catalyst and hydrogen peroxide, if there is sunlight, will degrade into carbon dioxide; even if there is no sunlight, but the air at room temperature are energy, the plastic will become organic fuel."
  Compared with traditional pyrolysis, the new technology reduces the degradation time from one to two hours to an average of ten minutes, and even styrofoam lunch boxes, which are considered very difficult to degrade, can be shortened to five minutes. Zhou pointed out that "each ton of plastic to pyrolysis requires electricity costs of 1,330 yuan, and because the new technology does not require the use of higher temperature and pressure, significant savings in electricity costs up to ninety-five percent, the catalyst pricing is also controlled at the level of popularization."
  Catalyst degrades 90% of plastic
  Asked whether the degraded water will become sewage, Zhou Zhuohui said, when the plastic degradation to carbon dioxide, the basin of water will turn back to ordinary water, will not pose an impact on the environment, "even if it turns back to organic fuel, as long as the oil and water can be separated."
  As plastics can generally be divided into seven categories, he admitted that the initial stage of the study had been worried about the need for different catalysts for different plastics, but until now, it was found that only one catalyst has been able to achieve the effect of degrading 90% of plastic types, "the next step will be to work with mechanical engineers and biological engineers to conduct larger field trials, within three to five years of industrial level applications. "
  He expects that through the research results, education of the next generation of plastic separation and recycling concepts, the long-term make Hong Kong into a "glue-free city".

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