Deception by the Numbers

The term "chemical recycling" is used broadly by the chemical and plastics industries to encompass various technologies aiming to convert plastic waste into its basic chemical components and generate new plastic. These technologies fall into two categories: plastic-to-fuel and plastic-to-plastic. However, the lack of a standardized technical definition leads to confusion and attempts to merge these categories. 

Plastic-to-fuel methods involve processes like pyrolysis and gasification, producing fossil fuels or petrochemicals and should not be considered recycling. Plastic-to-plastic methods theoretically transform plastic waste into chemical precursors, but their practical implementation remains uncertain. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) promotes chemical recycling as an alternative to traditional mechanical recycling, but their use of terms like "advanced recycling" further complicates the issue, blurring the distinction between chemical and mechanical recycling innovations.