From Plastic Waste to Sustainable Aviation Fuel: How NCInnovation Is Helping Scale this Potential Industry
By Michelle Fiscus, Senior VP & Chief Communications Officer
Researchers at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University are developing a way to convert discarded plastics into sustainable aviation fuel, but the project's significance extends well beyond a new energy source.
If successful, the technology could help establish an entirely new value chain in North Carolina—one that connects waste management companies, manufacturers, fuel producers, and future aviation customers.
Led by principal investigator Dr. Debasish Kuila, Professor of Chemistry, researchers are developing a process that converts plastic waste into crude oil equivalents that can then be processed into sustainable aviation fuel and other products.
The work addresses two growing global challenges simultaneously.
The aviation industry is under increasing pressure to diversify and decarbonize its fuel supply, while communities around the world continue to grapple with mounting plastic waste.
One of the most exciting aspects of this project is its dual impact,” said Dr. Micah Jasper, a consultant supporting the project. “It not only provides a solution to the soaring cost of jet fuel but also offers a practical way to reuse plastic waste.
Unlike many existing sustainable aviation fuel pathways that rely on biological feedstocks, this approach uses discarded plastic itself as a raw material.
"Current reliance on biological feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuel is resource-limited," Kuila said. "This technology provides a non-biological alternative."
Today, the researchers have demonstrated more than 90% conversion of polyethylene feedstock, with approximately 47% of the resulting product falling within the desired jet fuel range. Additional catalyst development and process optimization could improve those numbers even further.
But the fuel itself is only part of the story.
Researchers see an opportunity to create an entirely new circular manufacturing ecosystem in North Carolina.
Instead of viewing discarded plastic as a waste stream, they envision it becoming the starting point for a new supply chain.
This ecosystem could eventually connect waste collection and preprocessing operations, manufacturers, fuel producers, and aviation customers.
"Our target market is really the manufacturers first," Kuila said. "Eventually, there will be aviation end users, but first we need manufacturing partners who can help us scale up."
Researchers are actively seeking relationships with organizations across the sustainable aviation fuel value chain—from fuel manufacturers and industrial partners to future aviation customers.
The team believes North Carolina already has many of the ingredients necessary to support that growth.
The state possesses strong manufacturing capabilities, university research expertise, and growing momentum around sustainable aviation technologies.
The challenge now is moving beyond scientific validation.
Backed by years of support from the DOE-EERE and DARPA, the team successfully established the scientific foundation for the technology.
Having demonstrated its viability in the laboratory, they are now focused on scaling the innovation for broader impact.
However, transforming a promising university discovery into a product that industry can adopt requires a different kind of investment.
NCInnovation's support has played a key role in advancing the project from fundamental research toward commercialization.
"We will be able to support students and postdoctoral researchers, invest in critical equipment, and perform the scalability work that industry partners need to see," Kuila said.
Pritesh Kasliwal, M.S., director of intellectual property development and commercialization at North Carolina A&T, says that transition—from scientific validation to industry adoption—is often where promising technologies stall.
"Commercializing this technology will require an entire ecosystem," Kasliwal said. "It's not a single-entity product. You're bringing together waste management companies, fuel manufacturers, industrial partners, and future end users."
That distinction matters.
Traditional research funding often answers one question:
Can this work?
Commercialization asks another:
Can someone build a business around it?
NCInnovation was designed to help answer that second question.
Today, researchers are working at laboratory scale. Tomorrow, they need industry-scale production.
"We're currently producing fuel in milliliter quantities," said Debarati Mukherjee, a postdoctoral researcher on the project. " The next step is finding partners who can help us scale to liter-scale production using multi-gram quantities of plastic feedstock."
That growth is essential because industrial testing requires significantly larger volumes.
"Industry partners can go through hundreds of gallons of fuel very quickly," said Nelson Granda, co-principal investigator on the project. "The technology works. The challenge now isn't scientific possibility—it's scale."
Researchers are optimistic that additional catalyst development will continue improving performance while creating opportunities for new intellectual property.
The team also sees multiple commercialization pathways emerging over time.
Whether that future includes licensing agreements, startup companies, or a hybrid approach remains an open question.
For now, all options remain on the table.
If successful, this work could create opportunities across multiple sectors, including waste collection, material preprocessing, manufacturing, fuel production, and aviation.
It could establish new supplier relationships, strengthen North Carolina's role in sustainable aviation, and create entirely new pathways for economic growth.
Researchers believe that's where NCInnovation's role is most visible—not in funding a single experiment, but in helping discoveries leave the university and enter the marketplace.