Novel strategy in biohydrogen energy production from COVID-19 plastic waste: A critical review

Usage of plastics in the form of personal protective equipment, medical devices, and common packages has increased alarmingly during these pandemic times. Though they have served as an excellent protection source in minimizing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreading, they have still emerged as major environmental pollutants nowadays. These non-degradable COVID-19 plastic wastes (CPW) were treated through incineration and landfilling process, which may lead to either the release of harmful gases or contaminating the surrounding environment. Further, they can cause numerous health hazards to the human and animal populations. These plastic wastes can be efficiently managed through thermochemical processes like pyrolysis or gasification, which assist in degrading the plastic waste and also effectively convert them into useful energy-yielding products. The pyrolysis process promotes the formation of liquid fuels and chemicals, whereas gasification leads to syngas and hydrogen fuel production. These energy-yielding products can help to compensate for the fossil fuels depletion in the near future. There are many insights explained in terms of the types of reactors and influential factors that can be adopted for the pyrolysis and gasification process, to produce high efficient energy products from the wastes. In addition, advanced technologies including co-gasification and two-stage gasification were also reviewed. (c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The usage of plastics, particularly personal protective equipment, medical devices, and common packages, has significantly increased during the pandemic, leading to major environmental pollution. The non-degradable COVID-19 plastic wastes (CPW) pose a threat to the environment and human health. Thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis and gasification can efficiently manage and convert these plastic wastes into energy-yielding products, which can help offset the depletion of fossil fuels in the future. Advanced technologies like co-gasification and two-stage gasification have also been reviewed.