Waste plastic can be used to improve sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to research announced on Monday September 16 by the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

This improvement to SAF means that it can be blended into conventional jet fuel at a higher percentage rate than is currently typical, Hong Lu, a research scientist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center who worked on the project, told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 17.

The scientists first broke down non-foam polystyrene into a crude oil additive with a high aromatics content, then added this to synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) to create SAF with aromatics.

Aromatics are a type of hydrocarbon that occurs naturally in petroleum crude oil and all conventional fuels. They are often added to fuels to improve octane and other properties.

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