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Plastics

‘Advanced’ Recycling of Plastic Using High Heat and Chemicals Is Costly and Environmentally Problematic, A New Government Study Finds

Industry is pursuing various technologies to help solve the global plastic waste problem, but environmentalists say new recycling techniques only make environmental problems worse.

By James Bruggers

Jay Schabel, president of the plastics division at Brightmark, holds plastic pellets in his hand the company's new chemical recycling plant in northeast Indiana at the end of July. Credit: James Bruggers
Jay Schabel, president of the plastics division at Brightmark, holds plastic pellets in his hand the company's new chemical recycling plant in northeast Indiana at the end of July. The pellets are made from plastic waste and sent into chemical processing equipment to make diesel fuel, naphtha, and wax. Credit: James Bruggers

Congress Urges EPA to Maintain Clean-Air Regulations on Chemical Recycling of Plastics

By James Bruggers

A Turkish diver dives amid plastic waste in Ortakoy coastline to observe the life and pollution of Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey on June 27, 2020. Credit: Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Is ‘Chemical Recycling’ a Solution to the Global Scourge of Plastic Waste or an Environmentally Dirty Ruse to Keep Production High?

By James Bruggers

A view of Shell Chemical's new multi billion-dollar ethane cracker plant processing plant across the Allegheny River can be seen under construction Oct. 27, 2017 in Monaca, Pennsylvania. Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

A New Shell Plant in Pennsylvania Will ‘Just Run and Run’ Producing the Raw Materials for Single-Use Plastics

By James Bruggers

Kimmie Gordon and Dorreen Carey stand in front of a former cement plant site in Gary, Indiana, where a California company, Fulcrum BioEnergy, wants to turn trash and plastic into jet fuel. They are founding members of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, which opposes the jet fuel plant. Credit: James Bruggers

A Gary, Indiana Plant Would Make Jet Fuel From Trash and Plastic. Residents Are Pushing Back

By James Bruggers

A plastic water bottle floats half submerged along the bank of the Tulpehocken Creek at Gring's Mill in Spring Township in Pennsylvania on March 4, 2021. Credit: Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Microplastics Pervade Even Top-Quality Streams in Pennsylvania, Study Finds

By Jon Hurdle

Houston-based Encina is planning a $1.1 billion chemical recycling plant for plastic waste on these bottomlands along the Susquehanna River in Point Township, Pennsylvania. Credit: James Bruggers

An Environmental Group Challenges a Proposed Plastics ‘Advanced Recycling’ Plant in Pennsylvania

By James Bruggers

A New, Massive Plastics Plant in Southwest Pennsylvania Barely Registers Among Voters

By Emma Ricketts

Section of the SUNOCO Mariner II East Pipeline construction in Exton, Pennsylvania. Credit: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Sinkholes Attributed to Gas Drilling Underline the Stakes in Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Race

By Kiley Bense

A view of Shell Chemical's ethane cracker plant processing plant across the Allegheny River can be seen under construction Oct. 27, 2017 in Monaca, Pennsylvania. Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Environmentalists Fear a Massive New Plastics Plant Near Pittsburgh Will Worsen Pollution and Stimulate Fracking

By Jon Hurdle

In August 2019, President Donald Trump toured the Shell plant in Monaca, Pennsylvania, while it was under construction. He was joined by Energy Secretary Rick Perry (L), Shell Oil company President Gretchen Watkins (2nd L) and Shell Pennsylvania Vice President Hilary Mercer (3rd R). Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

A New Shell Plant in Pennsylvania Will Soon Become the State’s Second Largest Emitter of Volatile Organic Chemicals

By Reid Frazier, StateImpact Pennsylvania

A tractor moves a pile of recyclables at the San Francisco Recycling Center April 22, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California Passed a Landmark Law About Plastic Pollution. Why Are Some Environmentalists Still Concerned?

By James Bruggers

Nick Vafiadis, the vice president of plastics for Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS, the Dow Jones Company, speaks at his company's plastics conference known as GPS + PEPP. Credit: James Bruggers

The Plastics Industry Searches for a ‘Circular’ Way to Cut Plastic Waste and Make More Plastics

By James Bruggers

Pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes in sativa, indica and hybrid varieties are seen for sale at a dispensary in California on Jan. 1, 2018. Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

A Legal Pot Problem That’s Now Plaguing the Streets of America: Plastic Litter

By James Bruggers

Smoke billows from one of many chemical plants in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," one of the most polluted areas of the United States. It lies along the once pristine Mississippi River that stretches 80 miles from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where a dense concentration of oil refineries, petrochemical plants and other chemical facilities occupy sites alongside suburban homes. Credit: Giles

Judge Tosses Air Permits For $9.4 Billion Louisiana Plastics Plant

By James Bruggers

Jay Schabel, president of the plastics division at Brightmark, stands amid what he described as 900 tons of waste plastic at the company's new plant in northeast Indiana at the end of July. The plant is designed to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel, naphtha and wax. Credit: James Bruggers

A New Plant in Indiana Uses a Process Called ‘Pyrolysis’ to Recycle Plastic Waste. Critics Say It’s Really Just Incineration

By James Bruggers

Refuse bags full of materials for recycling in different colored plastic bags. Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images

A Houston Firm Says It’s Opening a Billion-Dollar Chemical Recycling Plant in a Small Pennsylvania Town. How Does It Work?

By James Bruggers

The Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, Pennsylvania on May 9, 2022. Credit: Katie Surma

In ‘Silent Spring,’ Rachel Carson Described a Fictional, Bucolic Hamlet, Much Like Her Hometown. Now, There’s a Plastics Plant Under Construction 30 Miles Away

By Kiley Bense

Consumer clothing products for sale at Walmart store on June 1, 2012 in Rosemead, California. Credit: Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.

Analysis: Fashion Industry Efforts to Verify Sustainability Make ‘Greenwashing’ Easier

By Phil McKenna

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