Start-up Infinity Greenfield set to produce diesel from plastic plant

In 2006, a group of scientists at the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) here began discussions on finding answers to the country’s crude oil woes by experimenting on plastic. In the next few years, they toiled hard to conduct scores of experiments to find the right kind of catalysts that can turn molecules of plastic into hydrocarbons. Most of the experiments have been successful, the IIP PRO said.

 

Infinity Greenfield, a start-up, is setting up a similar plant in Moradabad in western UP to produce diesel from polyethylene and polypropylene plastic, which can produce up to 80 per cent of the oil. “We are close to setting up our new commercial plant in Moradabad, which will be a 10-tonne unit,” said Vipul Kaushik, managing director, Infinity Greenfield. The entire diesel from the plant will be meant for industrial and agriculture use only, Kaushik said.

 

In 2019, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated India’s first pilot plant at IIP where scientists said it could produce 800 litres of diesel a day from the plastic plant. This project was sponsored by GAIL (India).

 

“Few years ago, we visited Ankara, Turkey where we saw a similar kind of oil plant. We held discussions with the owners of the plant and fou­nd it commercially viable in India,” said Kaushik.