Hannah Whaley, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, placed second in the 2025 American Institute of Chemical Engineers International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering (ICOSSE) student presentation competition. ICOSSE took place at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Whaley's winning presentation was titled, "Portable Pyrolysis Processors: The Development of and Potential for the Conversion of Plastic to Diesel in Developing Countries".
Abstract:
Plastic waste pollutes landfills globally – where chemical additives seep into groundwater and microplastics climb through the ecosystem. Although plastic recycling is prevalent in many places, developing countries are often lacking in the framework for safely handling their ever-growing landfills. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, residents frequent the “Ngozi Mine” - their largest landfill – to pick out plastics by hand for miniscule resale profits. In June of 2024, a team from the University of Kentucky brought a small-scale processor to the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo. There, the team introduced and assembled the processor with a group of young engineering students and met with city council members to introduce the potential for the technology. The processor uses pyrolysis to convert plastics (such as HDPE, LDPE, and PP) into diesel-grade fuel. In a country with an abundance of waste, limited structure for plastic recycling, and scarce access to energy, such technology can quickly take root. NUST students have since begun to optimize the technology and taken the processor to international engineering competitions such as the Enactus World Cup, where they won the Early-Stage Competition category. Zimbabwe is not the only developing country in which the processor shows such potential, as it has been introduced to Mongolia, Kenya, and Uganda as well. The University of Kentucky team continues to optimize the processor’s diesel production while using a growing variety of plastics and sources of power (including solar). This poster will detail the success of and potential for the processor in developing countries, as well as the developments the University of Kentucky team continues to make on the technology.
