Mak Student who was mocked over ‘Metallic case’ Makes Fuel out of Plastic

In 2019, a story of a Makerere University fresher who reported to campus with a metallic suitcase and an ‘osoufia’ bag moved viral on social media. This story, was a blessing in disguise for the then fresher who subsequently received numerous financial and scholastic support including a full study scholarship from concerned citizens and well-wishers.

Four years down the road, this student named Henry Ssuubi Kiyimba has reached the apex of his undergrad academic programme in Mechanical Engineering, and as standard, he embarked on a one-of-a-kind final year project.

Titled “Development of Liquid Pyrolytic Fuel from Waste Plastics”, Ssuubi’s project looks to generate fuel out of plastics (simply put) which is safe for the environment with less emission.

This reporter had a chat with the ambitious young lad regarding his interesting research project;

The idea of this project is not new but I took it up as my final year project, which started in first semester of Fourth Year, around November 2022.

What’s the project about and what inspired it?

The prevailing conditions in the environment, we have a lot of plastic waste. Simply put, the waste recycling happens for a certain type of plastic called PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) the chemical name for polyester, which is common for soft drink bottles such a coca cola, mineral water etc. Those are the target because they are readily recyclable. The research is looking for possibility of recycling different plastic waste to see which one can give off a better quality of fuel which people can actually use.