Efforts to increase the recycling of plastic waste could lead to a huge boost in greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to energy-hungry chemical processes, according to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
Chemical recycling, an emissions-heavy process where plastics are heated and pressurized to be broken down into oils and other components, is a growing method of plastics recycling in the U.S., the WSJ reported. Data from Chemical Market Analytics — an analytics firm owned by WSJ-parent Dow Jones that studies the plastics industry — indicates that efforts to boost recycling will invariably lead to a significant increase in the use of chemical recycling techniques, with a greater emissions surge accompanying higher rates of recycling.
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