SAN FRANCISCO – MARCH 2: Recycled plastic bottles are seen at the San Francisco Recycling Center … More
Advanced recycling processes offer nothing more than a ‘false solution’ to the plastic waste crisis, according to a new analysis.
The report by the Center for Climate Integrity claims advanced recycling processes are not environmentally friendly, do not address the problem of hard-to-recycle mixed plastics and do not enable a circular economy.
Advanced recycling is a term used to describe various chemical recycling processes, which break down plastics into their constituent elements.
The process is different to mechanical recycling, which uses machinery to physically shred plastics into smaller pieces.
The report argues the plastics industry presents advanced recycling as new and groundbreaking, but processes for the chemical recycling of plastics were patented as early as the 1950s.
It also says the plastics industry has promised advanced recycling is scaling up and will soon be sufficiently developed to address the global waste crisis, despite various economic and technical limitations.
And many chemical recycling processes produce a host of hazardous pollutants and are extremely energy-intensive, despite claims they are environmentally friendly.
The report also says the plastics industry defines advanced recycling as “circular,” even though these processes do not keep plastic in the production cycle and do not reduce or offset the production of virgin plastic made from fossil fuels.
The report states the plastics industry has long acknowledged the public’s concerns about the environmental impacts of plastics and presents advanced recycling as a way to resolve those issues.
And it claims experts’ concerns about the environmental impacts of chemical recycling have been largely ignored by the industry.
Report author Davis Allen said industry insiders have made clear, again and again, these technologies will not address plastic pollution at any meaningful scale in a statement.
Ocean Conservancy’s director of plastics policy, Dr. Anja Brandon said the new study confirms chemical recycling is not the answer to plastic pollution in a statement.
Dr. Brandon added chemical recycling technologies are expensive, inefficient, and harmful to environmental and public health.
“We already know that using less single-use plastics, improvements to existing mechanical recycling, and cleaning up the plastics that do end up in the environment are proven to be effective in combating the plastic pollution crisis,” she said.
“The timing of this report is more important than ever, as the plastics industries attempt to push chemical recycling instead of proven solutions at the state, federal, and international levels.”
But Matthew Kastner, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council’s plastics division said groups who claim advanced recycling “isn’t real” appear to be ignoring science, innovation, and measurable results in a statement.
Kastner added reports built on selective data and anti-plastic agendas do nothing to advance real environmental progress.
“Advanced recycling is already making a real impact—turning used plastics into new materials, conserving resources, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to using virgin plastic,” he added.
“America’s plastic makers are investing billions of dollars to expand recycling capacity and improve efficiency while advocating for smart policies that enhance collection and sorting so more plastics can be remade into new products.”
In November 2023, Oceana released the results of a nationwide poll, which found over 70% of respondents are concerned about the negative impacts of chemical recycling.
And more than three-quarters (79%) were concerned about the serious health risks associated with toxic chemical emissions from chemical recycling plants.
Additionally, 76% of those surveyed said they were concerned about the disproportionate impact on neighborhoods near chemical recycling plants.
