All articles tagged with #chemical recycling
Environmental groups warn that California’s new single-use plastic regulations create loopholes and permit “chemical recycling” that could generate hazardous waste, undermining SB 54’s goal of producer responsibility by 2032; packaging industry voices fear high costs and legal challenges, reflecting similar battles seen in other states.
Researchers have discovered a biochemical recycling process in animals that uses cellular waste to produce new, vital chemicals, which play important roles in regulating behavior, development, and aging. Contrary to previous belief, genes thought to code for carboxylesterases actually assemble a variety of new metabolites from cellular waste. This discovery could revolutionize our understanding of animal and human functioning, opening up new research avenues to explore the structure and function of over 100,000 distinct, uninvestigated chemicals.
ExxonMobil's new "advanced recycling" plant in Texas, one of the largest chemical recycling plants in North America, has raised concerns among environmental advocates who say the technology is a dangerous distraction from the need to reduce plastic production. Chemical recycling generates hazardous pollutants while providing cover for oil giants to keep producing millions of tons of new plastic products each year. Recent research has shown that chemical recycling is worse for the environment than mechanical recycling in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and water use, and in some cases, worse than virgin plastic production.