Dubai high school students develop project to turn plastic waste into fuel

Dubai: What if plastic waste could be turned into fuel? A team of seven Indian high school students in Dubai is working on a project that aims to do just that.

Called “Methagreen,” the project has been designed to convert high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a common type of plastic used in containers, bottles, and packaging, into a fuel that could be used for cooking or generating electricity.

Kiaan Bijin, a 17-year-old Indian Grade 12 student in Dubai and co-founder of the project, has noted that the idea came from the team’s desire to create something that could make a difference to society.

“Our journey started when all of us joined a group with one vision. Making a product that has a positive impact on society,” Bijin told Gulf News.

The students wanted to create something more than a conventional application or website. They have looked at problems they believed would become increasingly important in the years ahead, including plastic pollution and the need for alternative sources of energy.

“After lots of brainstorming, the main issues we got on were how plastic waste increases exponentially every decade, how fossil fuels won’t last us forever, and how energy is going to be difficult to obtain in the future.”

Methagreen has begun as a school competition project. The students have worked together, researched the concept, and made changes to their design before winning the competition, which gave them greater exposure.

Since then, the team has presented the project at various platforms, including GITEX North Star 2025 and the Zayed Sustainability Prize.

The seven members are co-founder Bijin; founder Rushabh Yadav, 17; lead developer and chief technology officer Advait Patil, 18; Vihaan Bhaskar, 16, who works on design and chemistry; Ibrahim Khan, 17, who also works on design and chemistry; Vihaan Chatterjee, 17, who handles economics and costing; and Rayyaan Hashmat, 17, who focuses on 3D simulations and marketing. All seven students are from India and have lived in the UAE for more than 10 years.

“After presenting at many competitions, we kept adding minor changes to the product based on what opinions other people had. Our main aim was to make it profitable, sustainable, and easily accessible,” shared Bijin.

The students’ idea is to use heat and plastic waste to produce a fuel called dimethyl ether, or DME.

First, HDPE plastic is heated and processed to produce methane. The methane then reacts with carbon dioxide to create a gas mixture called syngas, which contains hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The syngas is then processed using catalysts to produce DME.

According to the team, the resulting fuel could be used for cooking with a suitably adapted system or to generate electricity in a compatible generator. One of the project’s key aims is to reuse carbon dioxide rather than just release it into the atmosphere.

“The combustion will give carbon dioxide back, which we reuse in the reaction starting with methane. This loop makes our carbon footprint low with a high energy output,” explained Bijin.

The team has also proposed treating other by-products through a process intended to produce solid carbon and metal oxides. However, the system is still under development. Its energy efficiency, emissions, and ability to operate as intended will need to be established through practical testing.

The students believe the project could eventually help reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfills or entering waterways while creating another potential source of energy.

Their preliminary calculations have suggested a plant processing around one tonne of HDPE plastic a day could produce a substantial amount of electricity.

“Our aim is to bring light into every home by making this electricity accessible and sustainable,” exclaimed Bijin.

The students have expressed hope that the project could help address several challenges at once by making use of discarded plastic, reusing carbon dioxide, and producing energy.

The next step is to build a smaller version of the proposed system that can process around 100kg of HDPE plastic a day.

“After our exams we aim to build a small sized prototype that can process about 100kg of HDPE per day,” stated Bijin.

The team has planned to use the prototype to collect data, assess how the process works, and make further changes to improve its efficiency. The students have also eyed to publish a research paper on the concept and aim to obtain a patent by mid-2027.

As they move on to university, they have planned to continue developing different parts of the project alongside their studies.

“Our next steps are to develop the prototype and gather more valuable data from its working to make minor tweaks to increase its efficiency.”

For the students, the project has been an opportunity to turn an idea into action with potential environmental and practical benefits. Their immediate focus is on testing the concept and finding out whether it can work efficiently outside the design stage.

“If this prototype works as intended it can change what the future of energy will look like,” said Bijin.

The team hopes that further research, testing, and development will help them move closer to their ambition of turning plastic waste into a useful energy resource.