A quick trip to the grocery store will usually add another six plastic bags to your mounting collection under the sink (unless you use a tote!). Plastic bags, are unfortunately, an environmental nightmare. They’re made from oil and clog our landfills. While a few countries have tried banning them, they don’t ever really seem to go away. Until now.

Japanese inventor Akinori Ito has created a machine that can turn plastic bags into fuel. Using a carbon negative process, the machine, which is currently being sold by Blest Corporation, traps vapors, produced from heated plastic, in a system of pipes where the vapors are then cooled and condensed into crude oil. In that state, the crude oil can be used in generators and even some stoves. And with an additional refining stage, the oil can then be converted into gasoline.

Ito’s thought process going into the discovery was fairly simple — if plastic is made from oil, surely there’s a way to get some of it back.

In fact, the process is so efficient that two pounds of plastic (including polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene) can be converted into a liter of oil, using only one kilowatt of electricity.

Production costs are less than 20 cents, unfortunately the machine currently costs about $10,000 — something Ito is hoping to bring down with increased manufacturing (economies of scale).

While some CO2 is produced in the process, it significantly reduces the number of plastic bags making their way to landfills while allowing oil to be used twice.

Recycling plastic bags will have huge consequences in the long run — hopefully enough people get on board.

Watch the video: