Chemical or advanced recycling was fashionable at the 2025 circularity conference at the end of April. But is it the promise that these technologies can solve the crisis of legitimate global plastics? A new report by the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) reveals that it is unlikely that these strong promoted technologies resolve the global crisis of plastic waste.
The report, entitled “Advanced recycling fraud“,” Examines the petrochemical companies and the claims of plastic manufacturers about chemical recycling methods despite CCI statements, knowing that there are important technical and financial limits. Several companies, including Nexus complete founder and CEO They have discussed their work at Earth911s Sustainability in your ear.
Advanced recyclingCalled chemical recycling, includes a variety of heat -based technologies and chemicals, which promise to decompose plastic in their constituent molecules. The chemical approach differs from traditional mechanical recycling that is based on the crushing and merger of plastics for reprocessing. The plastic industry has promoted these technologies as capable of managing previously unrelent plastics and creating a circular economy for plastic materials. The CCI report presents evidence that thesis claims are misleading.
Five industry deceptions
The report identifies five main deceptive claims made by the plastics industry:
- False innovation: The industry presents an advanced recycling as new and innovative, despite decades of failed attempts to make the recycling of chemicals work at the scale of the 1970s. Pyrolysis, the underlying method in most chemical recycling, is
- Exaggerated scale: The main plastic producers such as Exxonmobil, Eastman and Shell have made bold commitments to process billions of pounds of plastic waste through advanced recycling, however, their real operations have been consistently under these promises.
- Technical Fugaz Capabilities: The industry states that advanced recycling can handle mixed and contaminated plastic waste that mechanical recycling cannot, but the report presents that chemical recycling processes require clean and uniform raw materials similar to traditional recycling.
- Representation of my environmental: Chemical recycling processes require significant energy supplies and can produce toxic by -products, unlike the industry marketing of these technologies as ecological.
- False circularity: Only a small percentage (1-14%) or processed plastic waste through chemical recycling becomes new plastic products, with most bees turned into fuels or lost douring processing.
Industry experts recognize limitations
Particularly condemned is evidence that the consultants and experts of the industry recognize the thesis limitations. According to the report, Silke Einschuetz or Ami Consulting admitted at an industry conference that “the concerns of industry critics are, in many cases, justified.”
The report cites Wood Mackenzie Brittany Martin, who declared: “I think it is a lot of green washing … if you put the name” recycling “in anything, people assume that it is green and that it is good for the environment.”
Exxonmobil case study
The report focuses on the advanced exxonmobil recycling installation in Baytown, Texas. In November 2024, the company promised to invest $ 200 million to process one billion pounds of plastic waste annually by 2026. However, according to accusations of A demand for CaliforniaThe installation has cumulatively prosecuted only 70 million pounds since the operations began, only 28 million pounds per year.
The internal documents of Exxonmobil assigned in the CII report suggest that the company did not expect to meet its public objectives or achieve profitability, but pursued the advanced recycling anyway, according to the documents, the benefits of publicable toefits benefits benefits benefits benefits for them to adhere to financial benefits. “
Dr. Anja BrandonDirector of Ocean Conservancy Plastics Policy and an environmental engineer who studied chemical recycling technologies, agreed with the reports of the report: “This study confirms even more confirms what grows the scientific evidence of recounting: Chemical: Display chemical move Plarical: Chemical technologies are expectations, inefficient and harmful to the health of the environment and the public.”
The author of the report, Dr. Davis Allen, a senior research researcher at the Climate Integrity Center, compiled evidence that shows that chemical recycling processes “have been mainly promised by the plastics industry as plastic fuel processes” instead of creating new plastic products with such frequency.
Mass balance accounting: a shell game
The report suggests that the uses of the plastic industry “Mass balance accounting“Make deceptive statements about recycled content. The accounting method allows companies to claim recycled content of the product even when the amount can be lowercase.
Anthony Schiavo or Lux Research points out that the products labeled as recycled through this method “can be only 2% – 5% of mass recycled content.” Exxonmobil admits in the sustainability report that “the certificate we provide to our clients is not an affirmation that our certified-circular polymers contain ‘recycled content.”
The action begins at home
In the light of the findings, what can people worried about plastic pollution take?
- Reduce first: Concentrate in eliminating plastics of a single use of their shopping cart and defending local leaders to improve mechanical recycling and the best collection and classification of investments.
- Transparency Lawyer: Press for a clear labeling that explains the actual level of recycled content in products, without resorting to mass balance accounting.
- Be skeptical of all statements: When companies promote their circular economy initiatives that involve advanced recycling, request specific data on real plastic plastic conversion rates.
- Support policy initiativesThe retreat legislation that responsibles for producers for the full life cycle of their products, such as the SB 54 of California, known as the Law on the Producers for the Prevention of Plastic Pollution and packaging producers, all that by 2032, all individual, all individual, all single, all sales of a single bey, bey-benefaging, in which they are recreated in 2032 2032, which by 2032, which by 2032. Always remain attentive to the attempts of the industry to weaken the implementation patterns.
- Focus its use of plasticThe Most Effective Way To Address plastic pollution reduction consumption of Harder to Recycle Plastics, Including #2 (Polyvinyl Chloride), #6 (Polystyrenene), and #7 (All The Plastic Resins Initiedated Since Number, and Resins, Since Number, and Initiedatened Sínce The Resins, and Initied You, And Initiated Since You, And Initiated Since You, And In Initiated Since You, And Initiated Since You, And In Initiated Since You, And In Initiated Desde usted, las resinas y en iniciado desde usted, las resinas, las resinas, y se inició desde que usted, resinas, resinas, resinas, y en iniciado desde usted, resinas, resinas, resinas, resinas, resins and initiated from the plastics accepted in their local program.
As the report concludes: “Rather, it is simply the last attempt of Big Oil and the plastics industry to divert the attention of the innumerable problems with plastics for the continuous production of increasing amounts of plastic, regardless of the Conquree.”
The informed choice is the basic for systemic change in our packaging practices, recycling systems and, ultimately, the successful establishment of a circular economy. Start the change asking your local recycling system to study advanced recycling options before accepting claims from the plastic industry.
