Advanced recycling: Plastic crisis solution or distraction?
By JENNIFER McDERMOTT
Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The plastics industry says there is way to help solve the crisis of plastic waste plaguing the planet’s oceans, beaches and lands— recycle it, chemically. Chemical recycling typically uses heat or chemical solvents to break down plastics into liquid and gas to produce an oil-like mixture or basic chemicals. Industry leaders say that mixture can be made back into plastic pellets to make new products. The goal is to create a circular economy for plastics, according to the American Chemistry Council. But environmental groups think advanced recycling is a distraction from real solutions like producing and using less plastic.
