CHIBA–JFE Engineering Corp. started a pilot operation on what it says is the world’s only furnace that can turn household waste into synthetic gas for use in creating plastics and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The small gasification furnace was built within the premises of JFE Steel Corp.’s East Japan Works in Chiba city.

The furnace injects oxygen into household and industrial waste, and uses the waste’s own heat to drive a reaction that produces synthetic gas composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

The resulting gas can be used as a raw material for plastics and SAF, the company said.

This technology is called “chemical recycling,” in which waste is chemically decomposed and returned it to its molecular-level raw state.

It differs from “material recycling,” which physically reverts plastic bottles back into raw material.

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