Non-recycled plastics and its economic value : plastics are made from non-renewable resources. today most plastics are made from petrochemicals i.e crude oil and natural gas. often the same type of crude oil that is used to produce the fuels for cars. crude oil and natural gas are non-renewable resources without a sustainable yield. the most frequently used renewable resources are biomass, water, geothermal, wind and solar. most interestingly waste plastics as feedstock can be used for renewable source of energy. renewable resources are an important aspect of sustainability. plastics, being hydrocarbons, have energy values substantially higher than coal and almost as high as natural gas and oil. capturing this energy value of non-recycled plastics (nrp) would contribute a significant supply of alternative energy in our country. energy values of various materials are shown below – coal: 19500 btu/ lb or 42.95 mn btu/ t plastic: 146995 btu/ gallon (3.8 ltr) or 38683 btu/ ltr diesel: 1030 btu/ cft natural gas : 9600 btu/ lb or 21.15 btu/ t natural gas 1 lb = 0.454 kg 47% of the total plastics waste generated is currently recycled in india; this is much higher than the share of recycling in most of the other countries especially usa and europe. again quantity of thermoplastics is 80% of total waste plastics. therefore quantity of non recycled thermoplastics (nrp) which will be generated by 10 major cities of our country in 2016 (ref. table - 8 above) would be = 53% of (80% of 1434162.19) t = 0.53 x (0.8 x 1434162.19) t = 608084.77 t energy value of 608084.77 t nrp = (42.95 mn btu / t x 608084.77 t) mn btu = 26117240.87 mn btu this is equivalent to - diesel = (26117240.87* 1000000) / 38683 ltr = 675000000 ltr = 675 mn ltr natural gas = (26117240.87* 1000000) / 1030 cft = 25357000000 cft = 25357 mn cft coal = (26117240.87* 1000000) / 21.15 t = 1234858 t = 1.23 mn t equivalent economic value - usually refineries produce 10 gallon diesel from 40 gallon crude oil and various other products are produced from the rest 30 gallon of crude oil. 3.8 ltr = 1 gallon and 42 gallon = 1 barrel 675 mn ltr diesel = 675 / 3.8 = 177.63 mn gallon or 177.63 / 42 = 4.23 mn barrel therefore, crude oil requirement = (40 /10) * 177.63 = 710.52 mn gallon or 710.52 / 42 = 17 mn barrel average diesel price = rs 54.30 / ltr the average crude oil price of opec basket in the month of may, 2013 was 100.65 usd per barrel. if we hypothetically assume that international crude oil price and average diesel price in our country will remain constant upto 2016, though chances are very less, then we find the following – (a) value addition by the major cities (of table - 8) to the economy in 2016 would be - constant upto 2016, though chances are very less, then we find the following – 675 mn ltr diesel * rs 54.30/ ltr = 36.65 billion rupees (b) saving of foreign exchange by the major cities (of table - 8) in 2016 would be - 17 mn barrel crude oil * 100.65 usd/ barrel = 1.71 billion usd. it can now be said that waste plastics are not wasteful refuses. there lie the hidden power in waste plastics which can add value to the economy of the country to a great extent if proper technology is applied to produce both liquid and gaseous fuel from waste plastics.