The NRC has developed and published a policy on Chemical Recycling (also referred to as Advanced Recycling). NRC President Teresa Bradley said, “Chemical Recycling, or Advanced Recycling, is confusing and misleading at best. When materials are taken out of the recycling circularity and incinerated– that’s not the highest and best use of the material. Our policy is clear to say plastic to plastic technologies are aligned with recycling and reuse, incineration is the end of life for recyclable materials.”
Thermal and chemical processes that convert plastics into petrochemical products that are fuels or used to make fuels, gases, oils, or waxes (plastics-to-oil) do not meet NRC’s definition of recycling. Using the term “chemical recycling” or “advanced recycling” for these processes is misleading. “Chemical recycling” or “advanced recycling” processes like these do not reduce plastic pollution. Chemical Recycling facilities like these harm humans, the environment, and the climate. Instead, NRC supports a hierarchy of waste management preferences that prioritizes reducing the production and consumption of plastics.
Great effort was placed to ensure industry-wide stakeholder input. Gary Liss, NRC Chemical Recycling Policy Subcommittee Chair, said, “This policy is based on input from NRC’s affiliated State Recycling Organizations and our 6,000 contacts in the industry over the past 2.5 years”.
Read the policy here.
