ExxonKnews
October 1, 2024
“Imagine a future where plastic is not wasted but instead remade over and over into the things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet cleaner,” a narrator reads as used plastic bottles and packaging magically become new again before the viewer’s eyes.
That utopian mirage is brought to you by America’s Plastic Makers, a campaign of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the major trade organization for the plastics industry in the United States. It’s part of a multi-million-dollar ad blitz to market “advanced recycling” (also known as chemical recycling) — a supposedly new and revolutionary technology which, according to ACC member Exxon, will finally allow companies to convert plastic waste into new plastic products.
Yet according to a lawsuit filed last week by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, plastic remade from plastic waste will constitute less than 1% of Exxon’s total plastic production capacity by the end of 2026 — even under the company’s vision for the future.
