REPORT | Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception

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Written By Eve Fox

October 2023 | Beyond Plastics & International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN)

Chemical recycling — or what the industry likes to call “advanced recycling” — is increasingly touted as a solution to the plastic waste problem, but a landmark new report from Beyond Plastics and IPEN shows this technology hasn’t worked for decades, it’s still failing, and it threatens the environment, the climate, human health, and environmental justice. This comprehensive report features an investigation of all 11 constructed chemical recycling facilities in the United States, their output, their financial backing, and their contribution to environmental pollution.

The petrochemical and plastics industries have been aggressively working across America to pass state laws that reclassify chemical recycling facilities as manufacturing rather than waste facilities, which reduces regulation of these polluting plants and allows the companies to grab more public subsidies. As of this report’s release, 24 states have passed such laws. Just like mechanical recycling, chemical recycling is an industry marketing tactic to distract from the real solution to the plastic problem: reducing how much plastic is produced in the first place. 

Deregulating and incentivizing chemical recycling is a dangerous trend with environmental and human health repercussions, though it’s not surprising when you consider how little information is publicly available about what chemical recycling actually does, how it does it, who it affects, how little plastic it removes from the waste stream, and how little product is actually produced. 

This report unmasks chemical recycling’s history of failure, its lack of viability, and its harms so that others, especially lawmakers and regulators, can see this pseudo-solution for what it is: smoke and mirrors.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

A Breakthrough In Plastic Recycling Is Coming Up Short | New York Times | 4/4/24

Agilyx, AmSty lost $4.5 million in polystyrene chemical recycling JV since 2021 | Sustainable Plastics | 3/7/24

PureCycle: “It Looks As Bad As It Smells” | Bleeker Street Research | 11/15/23

70%+ of Americans Concerned about “Chemical Recycling” | Oceana | 11/8/23

Fulcrum BioEnergy misses payment on NV bonds; IN project may be on hold | Waste Dive | 11/7/23

GET THE REPORT & OTHER KEY DOCUMENTS

WATCH THE NOVEMBER 28, 2023 WEBINAR

Watch the recording of the educational webinar on Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00 PM ET with report author, Lee Bell of IPEN and contributors, Judith Enck and Jennifer Congdon of Beyond Plastics.

TAKE ACTION

Join us in urging the U.S. Congress to reject chemical recycling and push for true solutions to our plastic pollution crisis.

Please join us in urging your members of Congress to say “no” to ineffective, polluting chemical recycling and take action to support effective solutions by co-sponsoring the newly reintroduced Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023. Fill out the form below to email your members of Congress directly. If you have any difficulty accessing the petition form below, please click here to add your name.

MORE RESOURCES

MEMO: The Fraud of Advanced Recycling | Center for Climate Integrity | April 2024

ISSUE BRIEF: Recycling Lies: “Chemical Recycling” of Plastic Is Just Greenwashing Incineration | NRDC | February 2022

FACT SHEET: “Chemical Recycling” Is Not Recycling: The Plastic Industry Is Greenwashing Incineration | NRDC | September 2022

FACT SHEET: El “Reciclaje Químico” No Es Reciclaje: La Industria Del Plástico Hace Un “Lavado Verde” (Greenwashing) Acerca De La Incineración | NRDC | Septiembre 2022

Eve Fox
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