Critics say plastic accounting hides harms of chemical recycling
Industry critics say deceptive accounting and marketing jargon rename plastic incineration, while chemical recycling facilities have produced a minuscule…
Critics of the plastics industry say the way plastic is counted is hiding the harms of "chemical recycling", according to Eco-Business.
Chemical recycling is the name for a group of technologies that the plastics industry is promoting. The industry is opposed to all limits on plastic production, even as scientists, conservationists and more than 75 nations have backed binding caps on production driven by fossil fuels.
Critics question the accounting
Critics say the industry relies on deceptive accounting practices and marketing jargon to give a new name to plastic incineration, a polluting way of disposing of waste.
According to industry critics, chemical recycling facilities have so far produced a relatively minuscule amount of recycled plastic. Even so, labels saying "20 per cent recycled plastic" are appearing more and more often on single-use plastic items sold to consumers.
The wider problem
Eco-Business describes the issue against a backdrop in which plastic pollution has quickly grown into a global environmental crisis that threatens how ecosystems function and human health on a vast scale. Solutions are urgently needed.
