By Pauline Odhiambo
Kenyan innovator and entrepreneur James Muritu happily acknowledges the science of "happy accidents", having chanced upon a unique method of turning plastic waste into usable fuel while experimenting with melting recyclable plastics for road construction.
"I used to make cabro blocks from plastic waste, and during my experiments, I noticed liquid from the melting plastic catching fire. That intrigued me," he tells TRT Afrika.
The discovery made James abandon the cabro project and shift focus to fuel production—a change that finally paid off in 2023 when he extracted petrol from heated plastic waste.
He achieved this through pyrolysis, heating plastic at extremely high temperatures.
"Once I extracted the petrol, I tested it by using it to power different types of generators," says James, the founder of Progreen Innovations, a company specialising in converting plastic waste into fuel.
"I also tested the fuel on a lawnmower, and it worked perfectly."
Pollution-free process
His innovation is counted among thousands of projects globally seeking to solve the world's plastic waste problem.
Data collated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that up to 400 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced globally each year.
Less than 10% of this waste is recycled, while a marginal 12% is incinerated. The majority of this ends up in landfills, where it takes hundreds of years to decompose fully.
James and his team collect various plastic waste, which they sort and clean before shredding.
The shredded plastic is then loaded into an oxygen-free furnace, which processes the plastic to fuel in a smoke-free process. The by-product "biochar" is used to fuel the furnace.
The entire process takes 24-36 hours, depending on the weight of the plastic loaded in the reactor.
"What we do is the opposite of incineration," James explains to TRT Afrika.
"With incineration, there's a lot of smoke, and the toxic smell of burning plastic fills the air. No gas is emitted in our process, and we are continually researching that to ensure it is 100% carbon-free."
PET plastic or polyethylene terephthalate, a type of plastic used in making containers for liquids and foods, is incompatible with fuel production due to its chemical composition and is, therefore, excluded from James' production process.
Cheaper fuel option
Crude oil is produced in the first stage of processing and refined thereafter to make petrol and diesel.
The petrol alternative is usable in small and mid-size petrol engines, while the diesel can drive generators and heavier machinery.
James also uses the diesel he makes to power his car — a sturdy four-wheel drive that picks up supplies for his business.
Progreen Innovations currently produces up to 1,000 litres of fuel a week.
Most of the diesel is sold to lorry owners who transport heavy goods. Farmers use it to power tractors and irrigation equipment.
Another of James's clients buys diesel to power excavators and other heavy-duty machinery used in road construction.
Most petrol is bought by commercial motorbike riders, known locally as boda.
"The beauty of our product is that it can usually be blended with petrol or diesel obtained from fuel stations," says James, who is working to increase his production capacity to 20,000 litres a week.
"Boda riders will buy my fuel because it's cheaper than pump fuel, and then mix it with the other fuels to make a blend. The feedback they give is that they can operate longer on that blend and save money on fuel."
Funding challenges
It took James a year to obtain permits from the Kenya Bureau of Standards to sell and distribute his product.
He is currently self-funded, mainly relying on savings from his salary as an information technology expert to keep the business going.
"Scepticism about my product is another obstacle. Many people don't believe in any other way of getting petrol or diesel other than from conventional fuel stations," rues James.
But despite these challenges, he still finds the time to mentor engineering students. He regularly hosts teams from local universities, encouraging them to pursue innovations.
"It's all about believing in your dreams and creating an amazing innovation that can sell itself," he tells TRT Afrika.
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