Advanced recycling can help us recycle a lot more plastics
Here’s how we plan to do it
Today’s recycling systems can recover some used plastic. But not anywhere near enough.
That’s what makes burgeoning private investments in new recycling technologies so exciting.
These technologies can dramatically increase the types and amount of plastic that can be recycled.
Which reduces the need for fossil resources and keeps plastic out of landfills. And our environment.
It’s called advanced recycling.
These technologies turn used solid plastic into its gas or liquid raw materials to be remade into brand new plastic for use in virtually any plastic product or packaging.
More than 90% of plastics aren’t being recycled. America’s plastic makers are investing in new technologies to change that. Advanced recycling is a breakthrough for reclaiming used plastics.
Here are five things you need to know about advanced recycling. Many people in the industry use the term “advanced recycling.” It means taking plastics back to their molecular form so they can be reprocessed into new products. Every week you take your trash and put it out at the curb. Imagine if that litter were dollar bills — you’d pick it up. That’s what we’re doing. We’re creating value for something that has no value.
Not all used plastic can go through the mechanical recycling process. That’s what’s really exciting about advanced recycling — it allows you to address hard-to-recycle plastics that can’t be recycled today. Advanced recycling is going to help eliminate plastic waste that currently goes to landfills, so we can use fewer natural resources in our products.
In the next 10 years, advanced recycling will have a strong foothold in the industry. It’s clearly the future. If you want to make a real dent in plastic recycling, advanced recycling is one of the top ways to do it — along with having good infrastructure.
Learn more about new technologies changing how we recycle, reuse, and remake plastics.
The plastics recycling industry is investing billions of dollars in these technologies and has launched dozens of projects designed to divert millions of tons of used plastic per year from landfills.
Multiple large consumer product companies already create packaging using recycled plastics created by these technologies. And they are clamoring for more to meet sustainability goals.
Hundreds of companies have committed to make more of their packaging recyclable and to use more recycled content. For more info, visit U.S. Plastics Pact.
Advanced recycling can help these companies meet their sustainability goals.
Watch some of the people making sustainable change by helping bring advanced recycling technologies to life.
Meet Jeremy: The Disruptor
As President of Alterra, he’s deploying new technologies to recycle previously difficult-to-recycle plastic, again and again.
Meet Natalie: The Finder
Natalie specializes in finding used plastics to remake into new plastics, many of which had previously been difficult to recycle.
What’s needed to make plastic recycling work better? A team effort.
To recycle plastic, an interwoven chain of players must work in concert. The plastic recycling chain can be viewed as a virtuous circle, in which each player enables the next.
LEARN MORE About Advanced Recycling
Take a deeper dive and learn more about how advanced recycling can tackle the 90% of plastics that aren’t recycled today.
Fact Sheets
The following series illustrates how advanced recycling turns used plastic into new plastic and provides more information about the environmental profile of this new manufacturing technology.
Insights
Find out what’s happening in Advanced Recycling and how we’re making sustainable change.
Podcasts
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Episode 15
Driving Toward Automotive Circularity
Soydan Ozcan, Senior R&D Scientist in the Manufacturing Science Division of Oak Ridge National LaboratorySoydan Ozcan, Senior Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory discusses its new partnership with the American Chemistry Council to explore ways to capture, recycle and remake more plastic from our old vehicles.
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Episode 14
Clean Drinking Water: A Pipe’s Dream
Richard F. Anderson, Ph.D., Consultant to the U.S. Conference of MayorsU.S. Conference of Mayors’ Rich Anderson discusses efforts to address America’s failing water infrastructure.
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Episode 13
A New Dimension in Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. Albert Woo, Chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery and Director of the Lifespan 3D Printing Lab, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown UniversityDr. Albert Woo from Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School highlights the marvels of medical 3D printing.
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Episode 12
Sustainably Speaking: Gen Z – The Future of Sustainability
Gulay Serhatkulu, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Performance Materials North America, BASF CorporationOn this latest episode of Sustainably Speaking, we discuss the emerging generation of thinkers and doers, Generation Z, a group notoriously passionate about building a bright and sustainable future for humanity and the Earth.
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Episode 11
Coming Full Circle on Sustainability in the Plastics Industry
Joshua Baca, Vice President, Plastics Division, American Chemistry CouncilHost Joshua Baca covers the best from Season 1 guests as they discuss sustainability across the plastics industry.