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When the sun is shining, there's nothing better that sitting the garden with an ice-cold beer. Now, it seems younger drinkers are taking this concept a bit too literally - by adding ice cubes to their pints.

A U.S.-China research team has developed the world's first one-step process to convert mixed plastic waste into gasoline and hydrochloric acid with up to 95-99% efficiency, all at room temperature and ambient pressure. InterestingEngineering reports: As the authors put it, "The method supports a circular economy by converting diverse plastic waste into valuable products in a single step." To carry out the conversion, the team combines plastic waste with light isoalkanes, hydrocarbon byproducts available from refinery processes. According to the paper, the process yields "gasoline range" hydrocarbons, mainly molecules with six to 12 carbons, which are the primary component of gasoline. The recovered hydrochloric acid can be safely neutralized and reused as a raw material, potentially displacing several high-temperature, energy-intensive production routes described in the paper. "We present here a strategy for upgrading discarded PVC into chlorine-free fuel range hydrocarbons and [hydrochloric acid] in a single-stage process," the researchers said. Reported conversion efficiencies underscore the potential for real-world use. At 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), the process reached 95 percent conversion for soft PVC pipes and 99 percent for rigid PVC pipes and PVC wires. In tests that mixed PVC materials with polyolefin waste, the method achieved a 96 percent solid conversion efficiency at 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit). The team describes the approach as applicable beyond laboratory-clean samples. "The process is suitable for handling real-world mixed and contaminated PVC and polyolefin waste streams," the paper states. SCMP points to an ECNU social media post citing the study, which characterized the achievement as a first, efficiently converting difficult-to-degrade mixed plastic waste into premium petrol at ambient temperature and pressure in a single step.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Home Office’s bid to challenge the decision to temporarily block the owner of the Bell Hotel in Epping from housing asylum seekers is due to be heard at the Court of Appeal today.

The Home Office’s bid to challenge the decision to temporarily block the owner of the Bell Hotel in Epping from housing asylum seekers is due to be heard at the Court of Appeal today.

Rylan Clark hit out at undocumented migrants entering Britain during an impassioned speech on ITV's This Morning which he accepted was 'going to upset someone'.

He was there on the other side of her salon chair for decades and listened to her woes.

Last week, Anne and Stanley Tucci - another returning cast member from the first film - sent fans into a frenzy when they were seen filming a funeral scene.

Emmerdale has sparked a new wave of Ofcom complaints after Mackenzie Boyd was killed off in a 'violent and tasteless' death scene.

UK starts early warning system combing through stuff that folks flush away

The UK Health Security Agency is looking to set up an early warning system ahead of future pandemics, launching a £1.3 million (around $1.75 million) program to identify "cutting-edge technologies" which could turn people's pee and poop into valuable data on the spread of viruses.…

Bruno Fernandes rushed to the aid of Bryan Mbeumo after the Man United forward missed the decisive penalty in their embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat by Grimsby. 

To us, modern-day hipsters may represent the peak of personal grooming. But it appears the Vikings really put today's fashion-conscious types to shame.

A man approached the woman at London Bridge Underground station just after midnight on Wednesday, July 16.

Sam Faiers has fallen victim to 'mum-shamers' following the latest episode of her new reality show Sam & Billie: Sister Act. 

The Die Hard actor, 70, was diagnosed in 2023 with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Stood side by side, these are the two men accused of torturing and humiliating a French streamer for days before he died live on camera - at his funeral.

This is the heart-stopping moment a taxi driver is forced to bring his vehicle to an abrupt halt after approaching a blind bend, unaware of an elderly woman walking in the road ahead.

Earlier this week, Sophie, 30, took to Instagram to share a glimpse of her Bank Holiday weekend with fans as she enjoyed downtime with Jamie, 37.

The collision occurred between Junction 19 (Boreham Interchange) and Junction 18 (A414/Sandon), and the road remains closed.

Many people choose to move away from Britain, whether to avoid the dreary weather or to start fresh somewhere new. 

This is the dramatic moment a plane flips over after emergency landing in water, leaving the pilot trapped in a small pocket of air in the mostly submerged aircraft.