Statement: UN Report’s Chemical Recycling Recommendations Set Back Progress of Global Plastics Treaty Negotiation

Washington, D.C. – Earlier this week, the United Nations released a report ahead of the second round of negotiations for the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (commonly known as the global plastics treaty). Throughout the document, chemical recycling figured as a potential solution to the plastic pollution crisis (see pages 27 and 55). Dr. Anja Brandon, an environmental engineer and associate director of U.S. plastics policy at Ocean Conservancy, which has advocated for stringent U.S. state and federal regulation of chemical recycling, issued the following statement:

“We are deeply disappointed to see the UN promote chemical recycling as part of the global plastics treaty process. When you scratch the surface, it becomes clear that pyrolysis, gasification and other chemical recycling technologies are not recycling at all, but rather just fancy ways of saying ‘burning plastics for energy’ — a process that emits far more greenhouse gases than mechanical recycling, as well as countless toxic chemicals that harm the environment and surrounding communities where these plants are sited.

“The reality is that chemical recycling is the petrochemical industry’s answer to plastic pollution precisely because it allows them to continue unfettered production of plastic products that need to be fundamentally redesigned or banned altogether. The UN’s own fact sheet on the topic says as much in plain writing: chemical conversion can deter action to reduce plastic production. Those words say it all.

“If the UN, and the world, are serious about addressing the plastic pollution crisis, chemical recycling should not be on the negotiating table in Paris or anywhere.”

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A fact sheet on plastics recycling and chemical recycling is available here.

Previous Ocean Conservancy releases and statements about chemical recycling:

• Ahead of First-in-a-Decade Update to FTC Green Guides, Ocean Conservancy Pushes for Stricter Regulation of Plastics and Chemical Recycling Marketing Claims (April 26, 2023)
• STATEMENT: EPA’s Draft Plastic Pollution Strategy Reflects Need for Urgent Action (April 21, 2023)
• STATEMENT: Proposed Chemical Recycling Facility Will Perpetuate the Plastic Pollution Crisis (March 15, 2023)
• PRESS BRIEFING: Major Regional and National NGOs Oppose Illinois Chemical Recycling Bill, Call for Urgent Action (March 14, 2023)
• STATEMENT: Omnibus Includes Victories on Fisheries Management, Against Chemical Recycling (December 23, 2022)
• STATEMENT: Ocean Conservancy Endorses New Huffman-Booker Legislation to Curb Chemical Recycling, Fight Plastic Pollution (December 1, 2022)
• Ocean Conservancy Spearheads Congressional Push for EPA Regulation of Chemical Recycling (May 2, 2022)

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