THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) 7 issued a stern warning against the improper extraction of fuel from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles through backyard burning methods, citing serious health and environmental risks.
In a statement, the agency raised concerns over a growing number of social media videos showing improvised “backyard mini-pyrolysis” setups. These clips feature individuals attempting to extract fuel from plastic waste amid rising prices, the agency said.
“DENR-EMB is discouraging certain processes as it may cause serious health and environmental hazards due to emissions of Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) which are widely known as carcinogens (can cause cancer),” the agency said.
Technology
Pyrolysis, the thermal decomposition of organic materials at high temperatures without oxygen, is a recognized waste management technology. When done in controlled environments, the process can convert plastic waste into useful by-products like fuel and energy.
Proper pyrolysis requires extremely high temperatures, typically between 800 and 1,200 degrees Celsius, to prevent the formation of hazardous emissions, the DENR-EMB 7 said. Makeshift backyard setups fail to meet these conditions because they lack necessary temperature regulation and essential air pollution control devices, the agency said.
“In the videos circulating online, it is obvious that the operating temperatures do not meet the desired conditions in order to eliminate PCDDs and PCDFs,” the DENR-EMB 7 said.
“In addition, there is no installed air pollution control device to mitigate the pollutants emitted in the process. With this, EMB 7 strongly discouraged the adoption of such a process,” the agency said. / DPC