The Center for Climate Integrity’s report, The Fraud of Advanced Recycling, reveals that the plastics industry has been promoting “advanced recycling”—the industry’s more palatable and preferred term for chemical recycling—as a solution to plastic waste, despite internal acknowledgments of its significant limitations.
Key Findings:
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Misrepresentation of Technology: The industry portrays advanced recycling as a novel, scalable solution. However, processes like pyrolysis have existed since the 1950s and have consistently faced economic and technical challenges that prevent them from operating effectively at scale.
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Ineffectiveness in Practice: Advanced recycling often results in converting plastic waste into fuel rather than new plastic products, undermining claims of creating a circular economy. Additionally, these processes are energy-intensive and emit significant pollutants, contradicting environmental benefits touted by the industry.
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Internal Acknowledgment of Limitations: Industry documents and expert statements reveal a recognition of the shortcomings of advanced recycling technologies. For instance, a 1994 statement from an Exxon Chemical vice-president described pyrolysis as “fundamentally uneconomical.”
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Strategic Deception: Despite these known issues, the industry continues to market advanced recycling aggressively, aiming to maintain plastic production levels and deflect regulatory pressures. This mirrors past strategies where the efficacy of traditional recycling was overstated.
The report urges policymakers and the public to critically assess the claims surrounding advanced recycling and to hold the plastics industry accountable for perpetuating misleading narratives that hinder effective solutions to the plastic waste crisis.
Recycling – whether mechanical or advanced – will only ever be a partial solution to the plastic crisis. We need action on all fronts to at least drive down the growth rate of the plastics industry. Avoid and reuse are where we need to focus efforts – the industry has proven that it is not an enthusiastic or effective recycler – we can’t rely on them to get out of this mess!