The Forgotten Benefits of Chemical Recycling
Geoff Smith
Chief Technology Officer
Geoff leads the engineering function, focusing on technology design and development. He has nine years’ experience in pyrolysis plant development and operation, in addition to experience developing novel cleantech solutions. Prior to Itero, Geoff held the position of Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory. He holds the CEng, MIChemE designation, as well as an MSci in Physical Natural Sciences from University College London.
This article was originally published on Sustainable Plastics
Chemical Recycling is often praised for its role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions — but that’s only part of the story. At Itero, we believe it's time to shine a light on overlooked benefits like reduced resource use, which is just as critical to achieving true circularity. By broadening the conversation, we can better reflect the full environmental, economic, and supply chain value Chemical Recycling brings.
Championing the benefits of circularity is a crucial part of Itero’s ethos, with the most widely reported of these benefits being the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions[1] achievable through Chemical Recycling via pyrolysis.
Lifecycle assessment practitioners already think intently about a myriad of impact categories, beyond just GHG emissions. However, when reviewing articles, blogs and industry commentaries, the benefits of chemical recycling versus the status quo seem to always be framed primarily with reference to the benefits attained by the reduction of GHG emissions. The benefits of chemical recycling are multi-faceted and this focus solely on GHG emissions can obscure (and certainly overlooks) other critical benefits and impact categories that deserve attention.
Resource Use; The “Hidden” Benefit of Chemical Recycling
One such category, ‘Resource Use’, refers to the amount of non-renewable primary energy extracted from the earth, measured in megajoules (MJ). Essentially, it relates to the amount of fossil carbon extracted from the Earth.
Indeed, the 2022 press release issued by the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) titled "Life Cycle Assessment of Chemical Recycling for Food Grade Film” announced one of the earliest industry scale studies into the environmental effects of chemical recycling. This press release quotes a headline figure of a 43% reduction in GHG emissions per tonne produced yet entirely omits the impressive 76% reduction in Resource Use shown in the full report. Resource Use reduction simply isn’t given the same headline exposure despite the critical role it plays in achieving circularity.
Reframing Resource Use as a metric of success
By recycling otherwise non-recyclable plastics into new chemical feedstocks, chemical recycling can reduce plastic waste incineration and displace crude oil extraction. This may seem obvious, but if we frame the benefits of chemical recycling solely in GHG emissions we can lose sight of the latter benefit in resource saving, and therefore the bigger picture.
The most significant portion of GHG emissions savings from chemical recycling comes from avoiding the GHG emissions-intensive process of waste incineration. Therefore, focusing on GHG emissions in the lifecycle analysis of plastic creation and disposal places the burden of change mainly on the waste management industry. It can also lead to out-of-context conclusions that can prioritise other damaging practices. For instance, landfilling plastics may appear nearly "carbon neutral" when viewed solely through this lens. Yet it is widely accepted that landfill as a method of waste management is harmful and we should therefore not be sending plastics to landfill with an aim to be carbon neutral.
When we landfill or incinerate our plastic waste, ignoring all the other associated negative factors, we accept that more fossil carbon will be extracted to replace that material. A reduction in fossil resource extraction should be considered a significant achievement and given much more recognition than it currently receives. Instead of focusing solely on GHG emissions, a holistic view of sustainability emphasising both this and other success metrics such as Resource Use reduction is critical for decision making with a full systems view.
The Economic Benefits of Chemical Recycling
The benefits of lowering resource use extend beyond sustainability. In a recent speech by UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed, he highlighted that all waste we generate is “lost economic value”. Moving towards a circular economy is an opportunity to “fundamentally transform our economy so we get more value from it”. We’re already seeing some of these benefits - the European Environment Agency recently reported that the circular economy sector was a “significant reason for increases in employment in the EU, with more than 4 million people employed in circular economy sectors in 2021”. Doing more with less will continue to lower costs, increase efficiency, and open new opportunities for revenue and job creation.
If that’s not enough, in an environment of heightened geopolitical tensions, keeping resources in circulation lowers our dependency on imported feedstocks for plastics. Recent research from Gartner published in Packaging Europe noted that 28% of supply chain leaders were concerned about “raw material availability due to geopolitical changes”.
Already, policymakers on every level are working to meet the urgent economic and environmental needs of our times by accelerating legislation that incentivises circularity. The City of London has just announced its aim to be fully circular by 2040, joining the Netherlands, who made a similar announcement in 2016 that the country would be fully circular by 2050. In just the last few months, the UK government put into force their Simpler Recycling legislation alongside amendments that strengthen the Plastic Packaging Tax. This autumn, they will be announcing their highly-anticipated Circular Economy Plan. In Brussels, European leaders are building momentum toward policies that drive demand for recycled materials and support a more sustainable future.
As government and business leaders recognise: closing the loop doesn’t just help us meet the demands of the climate and biodiversity crises but also, now more than ever, a circular economy represents a historic opportunity to reduce supply chain vulnerability today while driving economic growth into the future.
Therefore, as part of a shift to a circular economy, Chemical Recycling not only helps achieve sustainability goals but also delivers significant economic and supply chain benefits.
What should we do about it?
Reduce. No surprises in the conclusion; it's always the same. The number one thing we must do is reduce our consumption, reduce our reliance on single-use materials, and become more conscious about what we consider acceptable in terms of material use. Plastics are often framed as ‘negative’ material, with a general push to remove plastic in packaging. Whilst there is always a place for a diversity of materials, replacing plastics in products is often a red herring (or more cynically, greenwashing), as it can result in further detrimental environmental and economic impacts. Often, replacing plastic simply serves to distract from the fact that we must reduce our material consumption overall – and this is the first action we must take.
The waste hierarchy provides a clear framework for how we can move towards a circular economy. We must prioritise reducing consumption and increasing reuse above recycling. Chemical recycling has a critical role among multiple solutions by transforming waste into materials for high-quality plastics, but the waste hierarchy shows that it must not come before these upstream solutions.
Separately from the waste hierarchy, perhaps we can broaden the discussion to include Resource Use when considering the climate impacts of chemical recycling, and to include the economic and supply chain benefits when considering its wider societal impacts.
We know that protecting our planet means more than lowering GHG emissions. Therefore, perhaps Itero along with our peers, partners, and collaborators in the industry, can be a little bolder about highlighting the other advantages of chemical recycling.
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[1] https://cefic.org/app/uploads/2020/12/CEFIC_Quantis_report_final.pdf; https://cefic.org/media-corner/newsroom/new-study-confirms-role-for-chemical-recycling-in-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions/; https://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Non-Technical-Executive-Summary-of-the-LCA-Report-of-Chemical-Recycling.pdf;