Shaping a Better World: Advanced Recycling

In early 2020, the world – seemingly – was headed toward a shared circular economy goal. Across the globe, countries announced initiatives and aggressive targets to limit plastic waste and increase recycling.

Enter March 2020: the Covid-19 Pandemic was sweeping the globe and lockdowns began in North America. Production of single-use plastics, and consequently, plastic waste, increased across the continent from restaurant takeaway containers and protective packaging for online orders, to critical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). A Reuters Special Report dubbed this time “The Plastic Pandemic.”

Accelerating a Plastic Circular Economy

Today, perhaps more than ever before, the world needs to revitalize its momentum to end plastic waste and build a plastic circular economy. There is not one solution to ending plastic waste, but advanced recycling technologies are a critical tool to help us get there. Without a doubt, advanced recycling is necessary to meet targets like the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) and the American Chemistry Council’s goals to make all plastics packaging recyclable or recoverable by 2030 and to have all plastics packaging reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040.

One solution is advanced recycling.

Advanced recycling is poised to capture used plastics that are not widely recycled today and to create higher value products, including recycled plastics, than mechanically recycled plastics. Advanced recycling technologies allow us to recover more post-use plastics than mechanical recycling alone. Advanced recycling technologies are a necessary component of moving to zero plastic waste by creating valuable, new feedstocks from post-use plastics that cannot be easily mechanically recycled.

Demand for recycled content is strong and the value chain is very motivated. The quality of polymers produced with advanced recycling products is indistinguishable from those made from 100 percent fossil-based feedstocks. Therefore, the development of advanced recycling technologies that create chemical feedstocks, monomer and polymer, for the primary purpose of incorporating recycled content back into plastics should be an industry and country priority.

And critically, advanced recycling is safe for the air we breathe. A recent report prepared by sustainability firm Good Company for the American Chemistry Council examined the emissions impacts of advanced recycling facilities and compared them to other common manufacturing emissions. The findings demonstrated that advanced recycling facility emissions are well below regulated levels in the US and comparable to or below those from other common facilities, such as hospitals, college campuses, food processing, and auto manufacturing.

The environmental and economic opportunities of advanced recycling are enormous. It can contribute significantly to a circular economy in which plastics are repurposed rather than disposed of, which helps keep plastics out of the environment and harnesses their inherent value to create valuable new products.

Technology companies like Enerkem research game changing technology with the goal to develop, pilot and scale advanced recycling technologies. Working together with Enerkem, NOVA Chemicals is researching new advanced recycling technology to transform non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle municipal waste, including items such as mixed plastics, household waste and construction materials, into ethylene, the precursor to polyethylene. Ethylene produced from waste would advance a plastic circular economy and help meet consumer brand goals for recycled content in packaging.

Advanced Collaboration Across the Value Chain

Plastic waste in our environment is a growing challenge, but with strong leadership, collaboration, shared commitments and common goals, it is a solvable one. Both the public and private sectors must inspire collaboration and collective action, and drive participation, innovation and progress across the entire value chain, from resin makers, to brand owners, to consumers.

Of course, commitments require action and investment. Each partner, upstream to downstream, must help to improve existing recycling infrastructure, develop innovative advanced recycling technologies, and drive initiatives to increase consumer awareness and behavioral change.

Together, we can realize our shared vision for a better world.