Plastics Industry Promotes Chemical Recycling Despite Known Flaws

Quick Summary

• Conventional recycling processes only manage 9% of global plastic waste, leaving most to be incinerated, landfilled, or littered.
• The plastics industry promotes “advanced recycling” (chemical recycling) as a solution using heat and pressure to break down plastics into reusable chemical building blocks.
• A new report from the Center for climate integrity suggests chemical recycling is economically unfeasible, technologically challenging, and oversold by petrochemical companies for PR purposes.
• Technologies related to chemical recycling are not new but date back 70 years; pyrolysis was promoted in the 70s but abandoned as uneconomical later in the century.
• Statements from consulting firms (e.g., Bain & Company) indicate scaling up chemical recycling might not meet sustainability targets until at least the late 2030s or beyond. Exxon Mobil has acknowledged processing minimal plastic waste at its facilities compared to stated goals.
• Chemical recycling largely produces fuels rather than creating a “closed-loop” system for reusable plastic products due to contamination issues and low yields of quality outputs.
• Advocacy groups criticize chemical-to-fuel processes as harmful and say they fail on environmental grounds because they don’t reduce pollution.

Image Attached: !Exxon Mobil’s Chemical Recycling Plant

Indian Opinion Analysis
India, like many other nations facing mounting plastic pollution woes, may need to critically assess claims about advanced technologies such as “chemical recycling.” The report highlights important gaps between industry promises and practical realities-cost challenges make large-scale applications unviable even in developed systems with robust infrastructure like the U.S.

For India, prioritizing proven strategies such as mechanical waste segregation combined with manufacturing redesign emphasizing biodegradable packaging might offer interim relief amid global uncertainties about advanced techniques scalability before commercial viability emerges closer dates institutions expect enduring results shouldn’t seen finalised:)