Technologies That Keep Plastics Going On Needs To Be A Part Of The Solution To Bring The End Of Plastic Waste
This period, which is a new era of plastic recycling, also called “Chemical Recycling” in terms of the climate and global sustainability goals of nations, has the potential to contribute to achieving a cyclical economy.
As the recycling of chemical recycling technologies becomes widespread, it is foreseen that approximately half of the plastic packaging worldwide will be recyclable by 2040.
Innovative recycling and recovery technologies, with a hard plastic to be recycled after use, as new raw materials and other raw materials for the production of plastics and chemicals in the supply chain for the continuous re-building blocks that can be integrated into converting the original has tremendous economic value.
Unlike traditional recycling, advanced recycling contamination, pollution, mixed polymers, and low-quality, low-density plastics can be overcome. The process also avoids the “down cycle”, which reduces the material quality over time, by producing pure quality plastic raw materials. Conceptually, advanced recycling can be an endless recycling process.
Houston as a Leader in the Cyclical Plastics Economy
The Houston metropolitan area contains the largest concentration of petrochemical production in the world.
Houston is an intellectual capital for the energy industry value chain, providing tremendous leadership opportunities for chemical recycling developments in the global economic, energy, and sustainability fields.
A recent report by the Center for the Future of Houston and the University of Houston shows that, based on the current plastic production capacity and the types of plastic waste produced in the Houston area, the region could support up to 100 advanced recycling facilities with a high capacity each by 2030. It reveals that processing 25,000 tons of this process per year, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 10 million metric tons of CO2 per year and increase 15,000 jobs and half a billion dollars in annual payroll in total.
The report predicts that by 2050, these facilities and economic impacts will increase at least threefold.
Another analysis shows that chemically recycling only 25 percent of the recoverable polymers in Texas can support 40 advanced recycling and recovery facilities that generate over $500 million in economic output each year.
The economic Sunday opportunity in the plastics and petrochemical field, which can be met only in the USA and Canada, in part by the recovery of waste plastics, is a total of $ 120 billion annually.
The Recently Proposed Federal Legislation Could Hinder Developments toward a Cyclical and Sustainable Plastics Future
Houston’s importance in the production of plastics, combined with relatively low energy prices and the availability of increased price-competitive renewable electricity, places the region in a unique position to lead the circular plastics economy.
Recently was introduced, aiming to reach net zero by 2050 to build a clean energy economy and GHG and our nation (CLEAN) ACT Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for the future, advanced recycling facilities and new facilities for extreme sensitive permissions supply chains by introducing a pause will make it even worse.
The Law on Getting Rid of Plastic Pollution introduces a similar attitude to new plastic production facilities and prevents advanced recycling technologies from expanding the types and quantities of plastics that can be recycled.
These proposed pieces of legislation would hamper America’s ability to sustainably produce and recycle entire varieties of polymers that existing recycling systems and technologies cannot manage. This means that waste plastics, which are not commonly recycled today, will have the end of their limited lifespan.
This is contrary to a circular economy, where the goal is to maintain the economic value of materials by always keeping materials in play in a closed loop and creating a continuous supply chain.
As designed, the legislation will be an economic and disruptive burden for the current and future recycling Sundays and will act as an obstacle to achieving the country’s climate goals, employment creation, and sustainability commitment, as well as recycling content goals.
Sunday policy Jul-bounding developed recycling markets is in direct conflict with Biden’s plan to develop sustainable infrastructure and a just clean energy future.
