Pyrolysis: Recycle & heating

Plastic residues in the Andes Communities generate pollution. The logistics needed to give these plastics a traditional disposal doesn't allow the propper recycle of these polymers.

We propose that through a pyrolysis we can completely remove plastics residues from Andes Communities by generating fuel and improving their life quality.

This fuel will be use to help the andean communities to survive the low temperature seasons (temperatures drop between -2°C and -20°C) for them and their livestock. The goverment can't reach many of this communities so with this project we plan to give the community a sustainable way of recycling plastic and generate heat when there's needed.

This project works for any cold zones where a sustainable heat system is needed and there's a lack of plastic residue management. The nature of the project allow it to be flexible for any condition.

The problem to solve is plastic pollution. The main problem of plastic is not over production, it is the lack of continuity of it life cycle post human consumption. 

In Peru, each person consumes 30kg of plastic a year and les than 5% of this plastic is recycled. There is a lack of programs to give a solution to this problem and a culture of recycle, reduce and reuse from the people. Andean communities are far away from the goverment programs reach and this dispose of plastic is even worse. 

The plastic doesn´t only affect the beauty of this landscape but also the cultives, wildlife, rivers and lakes. Which directly affects the human life.

The pilot will be aim in a community called Capaso in the department of Puno, Peru, where the main economic activity is agronomy. This activity leaves a strong plastic residue from pesticide and other chemycals, also the city of Puno is a turist destination which leaves a high plastic residue that can be used by this community. Also, Capaso is the most affected community by the colds from the winter when temperatures can drop below -20°C.

Our solution is to convert this plastic by a chemical process called pyrolysis. This process uses heat to transform the long polymer chains into simple monomer fuel chain. This proccess has as output: gas (fuel), oil (fuel) and charcoal (easly disposed) and works for any kind of polymers such as plastics, wheels, resins, etc.

The pyrolyzer we will use has a simple design that only needs the reagent, plastic and and start spark to work. 

The community will collect plastic over the year from the surroundings of their community and from the cities nearby. This job is called "Recolectores" in Peru. In the non cold season this plastic will be stored for the winter. When winter comes, the plastic will be pyrolized to make fuel which will fed a boiler to heat an oil that will travel through pipes over the houses, livestack stores and especial greenhouses. This course simple to repeat and maintain, the machinery is not expensive nor complicated and can be manipulated by a local with proper capacitation.

This project is, at first, aimed to poor andean communities with lack of goverment's aid. These people has the highest malnutrition (27%) and child anemia (53%) ratios of the country because of the lack of food due to the death of livestock and crop. Also, more than 70% of the people suffers from pneumonia each year delivered by low temperatures.

This problem is added to the plastic pollution which affects the nutrition of the people, contaminates water, destroys the landscape for tourists and create the ambient for the proliferation of organisms that can affect human and animal health.

We have traveled over the andes in Peru to understand the roots of this problems and how we can help them improve their lives. These people are desperate to progress on life and because of these problems they are obligated to migrate to the already overpopulated cities. They are willing to receive any kind of help with open arms (part or peruvian culture). We have engaged the communities with the idea and received their feedback of what they need and will like to have.

How are we going to achive that the community absorb this recycle culture? The best way to do something that last over time is to link the problem with a need so people see the importance of it as something else like a system. That's why this project aims to solve both problems.

The nature of the challenge is to help communities to restore, sustain, and benefit from resilient ecosystems.

Our communities in Peru are dying due to the lack of opportunities in their own hometowns that should be delivered as basic needs from the goverment.

That's why our goal is to preserve their communities, cleaning them and giving them oppotunities to grow on their own land all the year. We want to preserve humans, landscapes, wildlife, livestock and farm fields for future generations. Preserve their pincipal economic activity: agronomy and improving their lives. 

Until last year we were on a concept. We have made progress and started to develope the blueprints for the community. We already had the contact for the machinery to import, but due to our current political situation from some months ago we can't make the investment right know. 

The project hasn't been develope in other countries as we researched, so it's brand new. We have tested the process on a controlled area in a place near Lima called Cineguilla. But we need to try the system on the alltitude and cold before the implementation.

The technology already exists, but haven't be used this way. For our country is a new way of aproaching old problems.

On one side you have the plastic pollution which we don't have any program o system to properly manage.

On the other side, the solution the goverment gives to the communities affected by this extreme cold is to deliver clothes every year. This clothes are usually selled by the corrupt region goverments before reaching the people and the ones that reach doesn't solve the problem, it's just a patch. 

Our project aims for a sustainable solution that lasts for a long time and is corruption free and solves a problem by the root. 

Currently none. We want to start the pilot ASAP. 

We plan to start on Capaso by this year to have it working on next winter 2022 so we can start to improve the model. That will be 342 houses.

For the next 5 years we want to expand to all the region of Puno, Cusco, Apurimac and Huancavelica. That's a total of 4.5 million people.

The main reason is beacuse we want to have the feedback and support from the most important technology institution. We want to take this project to a new level with the expertise you could give us. 

We want to be part of the MIT community and take some postgrade courses in a near future.

Also, the founding for some prices will help us to expand and make this project happen faster than we plan to. We consider that every season that we don't implement the project, people die.

We would like someone from the MIT to give us a second look about the project. All the weak points and how with all the technology and process knowledge you could help us.

Also, there are 2 kind of organizations that we would like to join this project. One is the regional goverment in order to make program hand to hand for their people. And the other one is any private company who would like to invest and make some social responsability.