Topics
chemical recycling
February 11, 2026
European investigation sheds light on chemical recycling practices; questions whether chemical recycling is a sustainable approach; shows examples of potentially misleading green claims using mass balance approaches
Reading time: 3 minutes
May 31, 2024
Report commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) reviews chemical recycling of plastic waste; finds the technical feasibility, environmental benefits, and economic viability of the technology are not sufficiently demonstrated; excessive subsidies or investments may lock-in environmentally unfavorable processes and infrastructure
Reading time: 3 minutes
November 9, 2022
Publications from government, academia, civil society organizations, and consultancies paint problematic picture of a circular plastics economy; plastic packaging waste per person found to increase over last decade; low percentage of plastic produced is effectively recycled; pyrolysis (a type of chemical recycling) of plastics produces 9x more emissions than mechanical recycling; “biodegradable” and “compostable” plastics found to not break down in home compost systems
Reading time: 8 minutes
March 16, 2022
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) evaluates eight chemical recycling facilities in the United States; reports that ‘recycled’ material produced by at least five facilities ultimately gets burned for heat or energy production; six facilities are potentially permitted to release hazardous air pollutants such as benzene, styrene, and arsenic; two US states ease restrictions on chemical recycling facilities
Reading time: 3 minutes
February 15, 2022
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) publishes principles for chemical recycling to avoid harming human health or goals for circular economy; should not compete with mechanical recycling, need transparency about resource consumption; prioritize reduction, reuse over recycling; WWF and Alfred Wegener Institute report on plastics’ impacts on oceans; plastic contamination is permanent; at least 2144 species affected, 99.8% of seabird species will eat plastics by 2050
Reading time: 3 minutes
February 1, 2022
Malaysia proposes revision of allowable uses for eleven chemicals, including seven used in food contact material (FCM) applications; Vietnam’s revised Law on Environmental Protection comes into effect, launches nationwide extended producer responsibility scheme for domestic producers and importers; Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives publishes report that chemical recycling plant in Indonesia, launched by Unilever in 2017, was “secretly shuttered” after two years; Sri Lanka proposes plastic pellets be classified as dangerous goods during maritime shipping
Reading time: 4 minutes
December 3, 2021
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) identifies current lack of information on chemical recycling’s ability to manage and remove chemicals of concern; recommends each technology is reviewed separately for potential conflicts with current chemicals and product safety regulations; calls for on-site studies at recycling facilities
Reading time: 1 minute
July 29, 2021
News agency reports advanced and chemical recycling projects from large multinational companies “flop”; projects launched in the last few years by Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever, and Delta Airlines to convert plastic waste into fuel reported to have all been dropped due to lack of economic viability
Topics: chemical recycling, recycling
Reading time: 0 minutes
May 19, 2021
Paper in Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering analyzes sources of chemical losses throughout the chemical life cycle, suggests approaches to improve chemical circularity; losses include fugitive emissions in manufacturing, dissipation in field use, impurities and regulatory incompatibility interfering with recycling; propose two changes to chemical assessments to guide sustainable production and use
Reading time: 3 minutes
April 29, 2021
US states Oklahoma and Arizona pass bills to support chemical recycling facilities; at the same time, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers whether to include chemical recycling in national recycling calculations
Reading time: 2 minutes
