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“Advanced recycling” has been promoted as the “holy grail” for hard to recycle plastics, but in reality is not advanced, or even really recycling. The “advanced” processes have been around since the 1970s, but have never proven to be a viable solution for plastic waste. And they’re not “recycling” either, because they don’t result in the manufacture of new plastic products. Less than a quarter of materials processed via “advanced recycling” can be used to create new plastic products. Often, these just create unrefined oil, hazardous waste, and more emissions.
The plastics industry has been deceiving the public for decades, capitalizing on consumers’ desire to do good through recycling. They’ve launched state legislative campaigns to classify “advanced recycling” as recycling, as well as advertising campaigns to support these efforts, focusing on a “communications” problem rather than the actual problem of what to do with our plastic waste.
Sources:
Reading the Center for Climate Integrity’s “The Fraud of Plastic Recycling” Report (February 2024)
“As Plastics Keep Piling Up, Can ‘Advanced’ Recycling Cut the Waste?” By Judith Lewis Mernit for Yale E360. June 2023. & “Recycling Lies: ‘Chemical Recycling’ of Plastic is Just Greenwashing Incineration.” NRDC. 2022
Research by @aveiary and design by @bymatthewmiller for @futureearth
