All Talk and No Recycling: An Investigation of the U.S. “Chemical Recycling” Industry

Patel, Denise; Moon, Doun; Tangri, Neil; Wilson, Monica

doi:10.46556/wmsm7198

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Conversion technologies are also versatile in the types of plastic they can accept, including plastics that cannot be easily depolymerized, 50 and many that cannot be mechanically recycled. However, certain plastics (such as PVC) result in particularly toxic emissions, including dioxins, 56 presenting an obstacle for conversion technologies that accept mixed plastic waste streams.…”

Section: Technical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crucially, significant gaps in understanding exist for the totality of environmental impacts from each chemical recycling process. Many chemical recycling technologies carry risks of toxic emissions and hazardous waste creation from the use of chemical solvents or other process elements, 56 which generate further environmental justice concerns. However, environmental impact calculations under a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach rely heavily on modeling assumptions and other methodological choices, so it can be challenging to reach definitive environmental conclusions about a specific industry or process 62 .…”

Section: Technical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shaping a federal strategy for chemical recycling: Moving toward sensible applications of emerging technologies in US plastic waste management

Erickson

2024

Env Prog and Sustain Energy

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Plastic waste management requires a diverse portfolio of strategies to avoid the most damaging environmental and social impacts of the plastic lifecycle and meet current national and international policy goals. The limitations of existing mechanical recycling methods for processing plastic waste have motivated the development and commercialization of chemical recycling processes. The novelty and diversity of such pathways beg critical questions of how these emerging technologies will fit within existing policy frameworks and contribute to recycling, plastic pollution, and waste management policy objectives. This work provides technical background into mechanical and chemical recycling methods, and policy background into differing modern approaches to chemical recycling at various levels of governance. Finally, this work summarizes key conflicts and crafts recommendations for future policy action on chemical recycling in three main areas: (1) defining an objective and identifying sensible applications for chemical recycling technologies, (2) filling gaps in existing knowledge and upholding environmental justice protections, and (3) implementing a suite of policies to complement chemical recycling's role in plastic waste management strategy.

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Section: Technical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Technical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shaping a federal strategy for chemical recycling: Moving toward sensible applications of emerging technologies in US plastic waste management

Erickson

2024

Env Prog and Sustain Energy

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“…Despite their heritage, we noted inconsistency in their classification. Some works consider them a chemical recycling process [89,90], while others do not [76,91]. The former argues that the processes constitute a chemical reaction and that fundamental chemistry knowledge is needed to comprehend and advance research in solvent-polymer interactions, their design, and recovery.…”

Section: Solvent-based Purificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerating Plastic Circularity: A Critical Assessment of the Pathways and Processes to Circular Plastics

2023

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Achieving plastic circularity is imperative to using plastics without adverse effects. Today, only 9% of global plastic waste is recycled, signifying the need for more substantial advancements to accelerate our progress toward achieving plastic circularity. This article contributes to our collective efforts to accelerate plastic circularity by critically assessing the state-of-the-art, gaps, and outlook of the pathways and processes to circular plastics. It employs qualitative methods to derive new insights that empower scholars and practitioners to prescribe effective strategies to shape the future of plastic circularity and its research agenda. This article concludes that today’s circularity pathways for plastics are not economically viable, significantly hindering their scalability and widespread adoption. It further validates that focusing on the product design and effectiveness of the available collection and sorting systems can considerably improve our progress in achieving plastic circularity.

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The Fate of Natural Fibres in Environmental Evaluations: A Question of Volume

Klepp

Laitala

Haugrønning

et al. 2022

Local, Slow and Sustainable Fashion

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All Talk and No Recycling: An Investigation of the U.S. “Chemical Recycling” Industry

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Shaping a federal strategy for chemical recycling: Moving toward sensible applications of emerging technologies in US plastic waste management

Shaping a federal strategy for chemical recycling: Moving toward sensible applications of emerging technologies in US plastic waste management

Accelerating Plastic Circularity: A Critical Assessment of the Pathways and Processes to Circular Plastics

The Fate of Natural Fibres in Environmental Evaluations: A Question of Volume

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