A young Zambian, 19-year-old Jowetti Mwambazi, has created an environmentally friendly formula to produce fuel (diesel and oil) from recycled plastic bottles.

This discovery is already being put to good use by members of his community in the town of Chipata, in eastern Zambia, according to the international media.

The fuel created by the prodigy has been tested on five motorcycles and the results are satisfactory, as it didn't cause any damage to the machines.

The Mayor of Chipata, George Mwanza, invited the boy to find out more about the discovery, and even shared an image on his social networks.

According to one of Mwanza's social media posts, the 19-year-old "knows what he is doing and speaks with courage and conviction". He added that, to support his discovery, Jowetti has been given an undisclosed amount of money to "patent his scientific idea with PACRA", a patent and company registration agency located in Lusaka, Zambia.

After receiving Jowetti Mwambazi in his office, Mwanza went to visit the factory in Chipata, as well as promoting the registration of the project's patent, as shown in the images below.

Following the publications, with the help of the municipality, he took part in an international conference call about possible collaborations and the possibility of financing and monetizing the idea.

Jowetti is not the first person to come up with a creation of this kind. Several individuals from various countries on the continent have presented solutions of this kind.

In 2022, the South African state news agency SABC reported the existence of Sibusiso Shabangu, a South African man who makes oil, gasoline and gas from recycled materials.

However, later that year, the same publication reported that Shabangu had received instructions from his district municipality in Mpumalanga, a province in eastern South Africa, to stop producing fuel based on unlicensed plastic waste.

"We had already advised him before, telling him no, that he should ask for a permit or authorization, otherwise we wouldn't authorize it. The environmental services of the province are the ones who have the right to authorize it," said a spokesperson for the district quoted by SABC.

Public reaction on social media has been mixed. While some have praised the creation of Jowetti, Shabangu and others who have come up with similar innovations, others have raised questions about the dangers of emissions from these creations.