[pstuart]

I've long been curious about plasma gasification for waste handling and your comment prompted me to see if that might be viable and I found: https://news.mit.edu/2021/inentec-turning-trash-into-valuabl...

Further searching on the company name has not been entirely encouraging but maybe I'm doing it wrong. There was a company called Changing World Technologies that I was very excited about that failed to deliver on its promises, so my enthusiasm is quite tempered.

[in_vestor]

Yes! This is one of the ideas I’ve spent time on and am still somewhat curious about.

InEnTec is the leading company in the space (as far as I can tell) because they have good scientific leadership, a good academic pedigree, and an investment by Waste Management.

The technology still has its challenges. It is hard to make it economical relative to alternatives, for one. I also think executives are not driving at the correct business model, overemphasizing syngas production and underemphasizing just getting rid of waste and possibly recovering metals.

But the biggest problem I see in terms of its viability for recycling is that it is all down cycling. Valuable and precious metals all end up in either a hugely challenging mixed alloy, or they get wasted in the vitrified slag output.

I have been trying to find someone who can clarify if any progress has been made on this.

[pstuart]

The website seems to be unmaintained, and searches for the company by name don't bring up anything past 2021. I think they're dead, which is quite the pity.

It obviously needs to be economically viable to pursue, but should be worthy of subsidies to help it find its footing--we'll all be well-served by having better recycling options.

If you learn anything more about this please share!