“El Dorado” of recycling? Chemical recycling has potential but may also create “climate loopholes,” warns report

11 Sep 2019 --- Chemical recycling (CR) should support – not jeopardize – a circular economy, according to a Zero Waste Europe study entitled El Dorado of Chemical Recycling. CR could be a complementary solution to mechanical recycling, although the real solution to plastic pollution lies in prevention and reuse measures, and an overall reduction in plastic use, the researchers of the paper stress. The analysis also points out that it is critical to set up the right policy framework to ensure that carbon stays in the plastic and is not released into the environment.

“The CR hype should not divert attention from the real solution to plastic pollution, which is replacing single-use plastics; detoxifying and simplifying new plastics; and designing business models to make efficient use of plastics,” says Joan Marc Simon, Executive Director, Zero Waste Europe.

Industry is backing CR as a potential solution to waste management and specifically plastic pollution, but the reality of this “immature” technology is more complex. The study examines the available information as well as the state of implementation of such technologies in the European context. 

Despite the burgeoning nature of the market, a string of market leaders have entered into partnerships to scale up the technology. Earlier this month, Dow partnered with Feunix Ecogy Group to produce 100 percent circular plastic through chemical recycling. A chemical recycling pilot project, coined ChemCycling, also recently launched its first prototype Zott Gourmet Dairy flexible pack made from 100 percent recycled plastic. The project included Suedpack, Zott, BASF and Borealis as contributors. Additionally, Helen Bird of WRAP recently spoke to PackagingInsights in an exclusive interview, explaining how she believes that there is potential for chemical recycling to solve key issues. 

CR could be a viable solution to mechanical recycling.Overcoming the limits of mechanical recycling?
This research highlights that plastic cannot be endlessly mechanically recycled without reducing its properties and quality, and that not all plastic types can be mechanically recycled. These limits set challenges for plastics recycling and show the need for significant improvements in the end-of-life management of plastics.

However, CR could be a viable solution to mechanical recycling where the latter is unsuited to materially recover plastic because it is too degraded, contaminated or too complex. The report also notes that CR could also become the new “El Dorado” of recycling if the conversion of plastic to fuels is allowed. Permitting the conversion of plastic to fuels to be considered CR risks creating a loophole in EU Climate and Circular Economy legislation.

The report explains that CR is not viable in the short term and that this is a key factor to consider when designing the EU Circular Economy. Zero Waste Europe now recommends the following amendments to current waste legislation:

• Come up with a clear definition of CR that excludes any operation that does not result in the production of new plastic.
• Only processes with a lower carbon footprint than the production of plastic from virgin feedstock can be classified as CR.
• CR should be used to deal with degraded and contaminated plastics and never with plastics coming from separate collection. 
• Establish verification systems to ensure CR process outputs plastic and plastic feedstocks; facilities licensed for chemical recycling should not produce fuel as the primary output.
• In order to avoid competition with mechanical recycling, but also to differentiate from recovery and disposal operations, a new level in the waste hierarchy should be added for those operations that recover materials from mixed waste that today would end up burned or landfilled.
• For coherence with EU Climate and Circular Economy agendas, EU funding should only be allowed to finance plastic to plastic chemical operations. 

While CR can close the material loop and move up the waste hierarchy and away from disposal and recovery operations, the best plastic-reducing option is to invest in reduction and reuse solutions, according to the study. This is in terms of both an environmental and economic perspective, and should also ensure that no plastic escapes the material loop via plastic to fuels.

By Katherine Durrell