Karak Star started its Phase II project focused on Waste-to-Energy which is funded by a partial grant in 2019 from the Canadian MEDA through the Jordan Valley Links Program. The MEDA grant allowed Karak Star to purchase a plastics pyrolysis line in 2020. Karak Star has obtained an Environmental Impact Assessment approval from the Jordanian Ministry of Environment and a license to produce synthetic fuel from the Ministry of Energy & Minerals.
The concept of pyrolysis:
Plastic waste can be processed into fuel through pyrolysis, whereby the plastic is brought to high temperatures (400-500 C) and held for a long time in a container sealed from oxygen. The resulting output is crude fuel oil and Carbon Black (charcoal).
Space within the Karak industrial estate has been rented for this project and the final permissions for this type of manufacturing (plastic recycling, pyrolysis) have been obtained from Jordanian Authorities. The capacity will be 6 tons per day of plastic waste.
Waste Plastic from the Jordan Valley
It is estimated that 8,000 tons of black plastic agricultural mulch is used annually in the Jordanian Valley. This mulch is either collected and burned at the end of the season or kept under the hot sun rays to decompose and shred.
Positive Impacts of the Karak Star Pyrolysis project:
Our project will provide impetus for a true culture of recycling in Jordan from the individual and up to the institutional level because it will create a demand and a market for waste plastic, which today is just dumped in landfills or burned.
Generate employment for waste pickers who will sort and deliver plastics.
Create new income for agriculture workers to sell used plastic mulch instead of burning it in the fields.
Empower women’s NGOs in the Jordan Valley to become collection centers for agriculture mulch.
Divert waste plastics from landfills.
Extract synthetic fuel out of existing petroleum products(plastics) and sell it at a low price for fuel-intensive industries.