[Report release] Chemical Recycling: A False Promise for the Ohio River Valley

Please join ORVI researchers and Save Our Susquehanna member Sandy Field for the release of ORVI’s latest report, “Chemical Recycling: A False Promise for the Ohio River Valley,” on Wednesday, July 17 at 12 PM ET.

Chemical recycling projects are unlikely to generate local economic benefits or curtail global plastic pollution, our new research finds. The report explores the unproven mechanics of energy-demanding, waste-intensive chemical recycling and the market hurdles likely to inhibit development in central Appalachia.

“The economics of chemical recycling appear insurmountable without billions of dollars of investment, as the technology for chemical recycling processes is unproven, yields are low, infrastructure is immature, and the market for its product is still undeveloped,” co-author Kathy Hipple explains.

Despite decades of research and significant private and public investment, the chemical recycling process remains financially and technically risky. Just ten pilot- and demonstration-stage chemical recycling facilities operate in the US, and none have achieved commercial success or produced at scale. Meanwhile, a global supply glut of low-cost “virgin” plastic, which could last for more than a decade, constricts the market for more expensive recycled plastics, hampering investment in new projects.

On the ground, communities like Sandy’s have rallied against the toxic air and water pollution imposed by chemical recycling projects, which can emit more than 4,200 chemicals considered “highly hazardous” to human health and the environment. Co-locating new projects with existing petrochemical facilities poses acute harms to environmental justice communities. Still, petrochemical manufacturers are lobbying state and federal agencies to reclassify and deregulate pyrolysis and gasification processes.