PIRG to Congress: Reject Burning Plastic

PIRG joined a letter asking Congress to reject legislation supported by the American Chemistry Council that would classify plastic incinerators as “Advanced Recycling.”

Beyond plastic

Large pile of single-use plastic bottles
Huguette Roe | Shutterstock.com

Who would think burning something would count as recycling?

That’s what the plastics industry wants us to do with so-called “advanced recycling.” Advanced recycling, which amounts to burning plastic, is being proposed as a cheap silver bullet to the growing plastic problem so companies have a green light to continue to produce plastic and make money. But the real solution is to stop the problem at the source by reducing the amount of single-use plastics they produce.

This week PIRG signed on to a letter co-written by the NRDC, Earthjustice, and Moms Clean Air force asking Congress to reject legislation supported by the American Chemistry Council that would classify plastic incinerators as “Advanced Recycling.” The classification of these incinerators as recycling processes would allow them to circumnavigate the Clean Air Act laws that regulate incinerators. The effects of this are detrimental to human health because of the toxins released when burning plastic, the chemical additives in plastic, and the pollution from running the incinerators.

If these incinerators get reclassified as “advanced recycling” there would be more pollution and hazardous chemicals from the incineration process and every step in the plastic lifecycle. Unregulated plastic incinerators can have negative health effects on people ranging from asthma to cancer. Learn more about our work to reduce plastic pollution here.

Read the full letter here.

Holly Thompson

Zero Waste Associate

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