In the most comprehensive report on chemical recycling facilities in the U.S. to date, researchers looked at the operations of 11 companies across the country to examine the plastic industry's claim that chemical recycling can significantly help reduce global plastic pollution.
The lack of transparency surrounding chemical recycling facilities is especially concerning given the fact that five of the 11 plants have received public subsidies in the form of federal grants, state tax abatements, low-interest green bonds, or government loan guarantees.
Future projects may benefit from a recent spate of state-level laws that have lessened the regulatory burden on so-called advanced recycling.
The American Chemistry Council, the country's largest petrochemical industry group, has supported the bills with a lobbying push, claiming that solid waste facility permits are often inapplicable to chemical recycling and the change would simply regulate the facilities more accurately.
"During the extended negotiations on the matter, over 50 countries objected to the inclusion of chemical recycling in the guidelines on the basis that there was no available independent data to demonstrate that chemical recycling constituted environmentally sound management of plastic waste," states the Beyond Plastics report.
A report from the National Resources Defense Council in February 2022 looked at state-level permit data and found that many chemical recycling facilities are permitted to release hazardous air pollutants and "Chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects like birth defects."
The Beyond Plastics report also cites scientific literature that has found "Emissions of persistent, cancer-causing compounds from the chemical recycling facilities or their fuel products," including dioxins, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals.
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/31/plastics-pollution-advanced-recycling/
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