An entrepreneur from Holguín is developing a prototype of an industrial plant capable of converting plastic waste into fuel at the workshops of the Empresa Mecánica Héroes del 26 de Julio using a reactor that operates at temperatures between 400 and 500 degrees Celsius.
The project is called Pyralis and its creator, Alejandro Ortiz Ávila, bases the technology on the process of pyrolysis: the thermochemical decomposition of materials in the absence of oxygen to obtain hydrocarbons from waste, reported the official Canal Caribe.
Ortiz Ávila explained that the plant is currently in the assembly phase. "Right now, the plant is in a stage of assembly, which is nearing the completion of the reactor assembly regarding sealing in order to move on to the condensation process," he noted.
The reactor, designed horizontally and made from recycled industrial waste, is the most visible structure of the prototype and will be the core of the thermochemical process.
Regarding the complexity of the industrial-scale process, the entrepreneur was straightforward: "When we talk about industrial pyrolysis, especially in relation to obtaining usable fuels from plastic, it is indeed very complex because it is a reactor that operates in the absence of oxygen, reaching temperatures between 400 and 500 degrees, which breaks down the material into particles, in this case, plastic waste."
According to the project dossier, for every 100 kilograms of plastic waste processed, the system can generate up to 100 liters of pyrolytic oils, which would serve as a base for producing gasoline and diesel.
The fuel obtained would initially be allocated to essential services such as ambulances, in a country that produces only 40,000 barrels of oil daily when it needs 110,000.
Pyralis is the first technology-based company incubated since its inception at the Scientific, Technological, and Industrial Park of Holguín, founded in 2025.
The president of the park, DrC. Carlos Rafael Batista Matamoros, emphasized the scope of the project: "It is applied science that will have an impact both socially and in the market, as it is established as a business."
Ortiz Ávila acknowledged the key role of that institution: "The Scientific and Technological Park has been the constitutional support in every sense, as it not only authorizes us to set up the plant but also provides us with scientific personnel, with trained staff to validate our technology."
The project also includes the installation of community plastic waste collection points, with the first point planned in an old guarapera in the neighborhood of Vista Alegre in Holguín, as well as a scheme of incentives for neighborhoods with the highest collection rates.
Cuba generates over 40,000 tons of plastic waste annually, of which only 10% is recycled, posing a serious environmental problem as well as a potential source of raw material for initiatives like this.
The project arises in the context of the worst energy crisis the island has faced in decades, with electricity generation deficits of up to 2,040 MW and blackouts affecting 64% of the population, exacerbated by the suspension of Venezuelan shipments and cuts in Mexican imports.
Before being able to provide concrete solutions, Pyralis will need to undergo a testing phase, certify the quality of the fuels obtained, and evaluate their industrial scaling, steps that will determine whether the initiative can become a real response to the fuel crisis that the country is experiencing.
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