ExxonKnews
March 28, 2023
The disturbing reports on plastic pollution just keep coming: toxic plastic waste is filling up our oceans, our landfills, and even our bodies. But if you’ve seen a recent surge of ads from the companies that produce this garbage, you might be forgiven for thinking they’re working on solutions to the problem.
“America’s Plastic Makers” is the brand promoting a slew of ads about a new “solution” to plastic pollution that experts and evidence say creates new climate and environmental harms, and doesn’t actually work. It’s called “advanced” or chemical recycling, and refers to various processes for repurposing plastic waste. Some of those would use chemicals to break down used plastic and supposedly turn it into new plastic. But far more frequently, chemical recycling refers to combusting fossil fuels to turn plastics into chemicals or more oil and gas to be burned (also known as pyrolisis or gasification, which isn’t recycling at all).
