Scientists have found a novel way to turn daily plastic waste products like water bottles and plastic bags into jet fuel.

Researchers at Washington State University in the US melted plastic waste at high temperature with activated carbon, a processed carbon with increased surface area, to produce jet fuel.

"Waste plastic is a huge problem worldwide. This is a very good, and relatively simple, way to recycle these plastics," said Hanwu Lei, an associate professor at WSU.

The research, published in the journal Applied Energy, tested low-density polyethene and mixed a variety of waste plastic products, like water bottles, milk bottles, and plastic bags, and ground them down to around three millimetres, or about the size of a grain of rice. The plastic granules were then placed on top of activated carbon in a tube reactor at a high temperature, ranging from 430 degree Celsius to 571 degrees Celsius.

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