A regulatory change by the EPA could be a game changer for the chemical plastic recycling industry, The Associated Press reports. Right now, pyrolysis facilities—which use heat to break plastics down into oils and chemicals—are regulated as incinerators under the Clean Air Act, subject to strict limits on nine air pollutants including toxic particulates, heavy metals and dioxins.
The agency is considering reclassifying the process as manufacturing, which would move it under a different section of the law with fewer federal emissions requirements. The American Chemistry Council has spent years pushing for the change, arguing pyrolysis is fundamentally different from incineration because it recovers materials rather than destroying them. Environmental groups counter that the reclassification would gut protections for communities near these facilities—potentially overnight. The Associated Press has the full story.
