Date: September 19, 2022
To: Members of the House and Senate
Dear Senator,
The undersigned 201 environmental, health, science, consumer protection and environmental justice organizations urge you not to sponsor or co-sponsor legislation that supports so-called “advanced recycling” promoted by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and other plastics industry lobbyists. The ACC seeks to change existing law so that plastics incinerators can operate without meeting the environmental and health protections of the Clean Air Act.
Under the guise of offering a solution to the global plastic waste crisis, the American Chemistry Council has invented an Orwellian new name for decades-old incineration technologies. It seeks to rebrand pyrolysis and gasification incinerators as “advanced recycling,” even though there is nothing advanced about them and nothing gets recycled. In reality, the plastic trash that enters pyrolysis and gasification incinerators gets burned, creating dioxins and other harmful air pollution. What’s left is toxic chemical waste that gets burned again later at hazardous waste disposal facilities or as a dirty fuel. Far from “recycling” the plastic waste they get paid to accept, gasification and pyrolysis incinerators are turning plastic into highly toxic air pollutants and generating hundreds of thousands of pounds of hazardous waste.
For chemical industry lobbyists, the concept of “advanced recycling” is a dream come true. Having an eco-sounding way to make plastic waste vanish from sight helps the industry justify exponential growth in plastics production, which is expected to triple over the next 40 years. Pretending that burning plastic waste in pyrolysis and gasification incinerators is “advanced recycling” offers a way to avoid Clean Air Act requirements and do incineration on-the-cheap without having to invest in pollution controls or bother with air quality monitoring and reporting. Some companies would even become eligible for manufacturing subsidies and tax breaks.
While the plastics industry claims that the process of burning plastic via pyrolysis and gasification meets state and federal environmental standards, the whole point of the “advanced recycling” legislation they are promoting is to allow pyrolysis and gasification incinerators to evade these very protections. If plastic incinerators can avoid being regulated as incinerators, they can escape Clean Air Act requirements altogether and emit as much toxic pollution as they like. Community members will be unable to stop it or even to find out what toxic pollutants they are being exposed to.
Because pyrolysis and gasification incinerators combust solid waste, they are incinerators under the Clean Air Act. The statute requires the same strong protection for pyrolysis and gasification incinerators as it does for all other incinerators – a point EPA recognized almost 30 years ago when it first set emission standards for incinerators under the Clean Air Act. The American Chemistry Council now seeks to exempt pyrolysis and gasification incinerators from air pollution laws by having Congress or EPA declare that these incinerators are not incinerators. To that same end, they may seek to have the EPA declare that plastic waste is not “waste” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Either of these actions, if taken by Congress or EPA, will remove existing Clean Air Act protections, leaving the incineration of plastic via pyrolysis and gasification entirely unregulated under federal law, at the same time the chemical industry has pushed through legislation in 20 states to relax state-level requirements.
Plastic contains hundreds of toxic chemicals, including heavy metals, phthalates, flame retardants, bisphenol A and PFAS. The process of burning plastic via pyrolysis and gasification generates even more toxic pollution, including chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects and other serious health harms. Emissions include dioxins, benzene, cadmium, arsenic, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury. Removing existing Clean Air Act limitations on burning plastic will allow chemical manufacturers to produce and release these toxic chemicals into our communities without limitation.
Eliminating these long-standing federal protections will sanction and promote uncontrolled burning of plastic waste – or any other waste – in pyrolysis and gasification incinerators across the country. Most of that uncontrolled incineration will take place in communities of color and in low-income neighborhoods already overburdened by toxic pollution. Changing the legal definition of incineration or waste so that chemical companies can burn plastic in poor and minority communities without controlling the toxic pollution they emit is environmental injustice at its worst.
If chemical manufacturers can operate pyrolysis and gasification facilities in compliance with Clean Air Act protections, as they claim, then why are they fighting to remove these federal health protections? If they cannot meet these basic protections, the last thing Congress should do is exempt them from pollution control laws. It would be unconscionable for any member of Congress to endorse and enable the chemical manufacturers’ plans to evade federal health protections for incinerating plastic, particularly in the face of a global plastic pollution crisis and the projected tripling of plastic waste.
Calling pyrolysis and gasification “advanced recycling” does not change what they are: heavily polluting, inefficient, and energy-intensive means of burning fossil fuel plastics. To the extent they create anything other than air pollution, their product is a form of chemical waste that is burned again later as hazardous waste or dirty industrial fuel – causing yet more air pollution.
This is incompatible with a climate-safe future, and arguably even more deleterious for the planet than burning fossil fuels directly. So-called “advanced recycling” moves the plastics from the landfills to the atmosphere, and into our lungs.
Congress is currently spending significant time and resources grappling with the ongoing PFAS crisis, created and perpetuated by the same industry that now wants Congress and EPA to approve the unlimited burning of PFAS and other plastic waste. We urge you to reject the advances by chemical manufacturers and say “No” when asked to sponsor or co-sponsor legislation to remove existing federal health protections from incineration of plastic.
For more information please contact Daniel Rosenberg, NRDC, at drosenberg@nrdc.org; Jim Pew, Earthjustice, at jpew@earthjustice.org; or Cynthia Palmer, Moms Clean Air Force, at CynthiaPalmerMail@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Jim Pew
Senior Attorney, Earthjustice
Judith Enck
President, Beyond Plastics
Jane Williams
Executive Director, California Communities Against Toxics
Lisa Ramsden
Senior Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace USA
Sonya Lunder
Senior Toxics Policy Advisor, Sierra Club
Sarah Packer
Director, Petrochemicals, Plastics & Climate, Center for Environmental Health
Matthew Davis
Senior Director, Government Affairs, League of Conservation Voters
Nick Lapis
Policy Director, Californians Against Waste
Frankie Orona
Executive Director, Society of Native Nations
Bianca Lopez
Co-Founder, Director, Valley Improvement Projects
Daniel Rosenberg
Director of Federal Toxics Policy, Natural Resources Defense Council
Martin Bourque
Executive Director, Ecology Center
Jessica Roff
US / Canada Regional Policy Advocate, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Renee Sharp
Strategic Advisor, Safer States
Shannon Smith
Executive Director, FracTracker Alliance
Lori Caughman
Law & Policy Program Manager, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Caitlin Hart
Senior Manager, Gov’t Relations, Ocean Conservancy
KT Andresky
Campaign Organizer, Breathe Free Detroit
Alison Waliszewski
Policy & Outreach Manager, 5 Gyres Institute
Pamela Miller
Executive Director, Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Sarah Martik
Campaign Director, Center for Coalfield Justice
Mike Belliveau
Founder, Executive Director, Defend Our Health
Logan Welde
Senior Attorney, Clean Air Coalition
Bobbi Wilding
Executive Director, Clean & Healthy New York
Dave Arndt
Director, Locust Point Community Garden
Sam Pearse
Lead Campaigner, Story of Stuff Project
Jennifer Savage
Senior Manager, Plastic Pollution Initiative, Surfrider Foundation
Christy Leavitt
Plastics Campaign Director, Oceana
Dianna Cohen
Co-Founder, CEO, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Alejandra Warren
Executive Director, Plastic Free Future
Teresa Mills
Executive Director, Buckeye Environmental Network
Dominique Browning
Senior Vice President, Moms Clean Air Force
Kathleen Curtis
Founding Director, Moms for a Nontoxic New York
Jan Dell
Founder, Independent Engineer, The Last Beach Cleanup
Jackie Nunez
Founder, The Last Plastic Straw
Morgan Huette
Gulf Program Coordinator, Turtle Island Restoration Network
Ruth Abbe
President, Zero Waste USA
Lynn Hoffman
National Coordinator, Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers (AMBR)
Laura Simpson
Steering Committee, 350 Humboldt
Elisabeth Bialosky
Youth Campaigns Organizer, 350 New Hampshire
Jane Selden
Co-Chair, WasteNøt/350NYC 350NYC
Janet Nudelman
Senior Director of Program and Policy, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
Matthew Mehalik
Executive Director, Breathe Project
Lee McNair
Co-Leader, Cedar Lane Environmental Justice Ministry
Blake Kopcho
Senior Oceans Campaigner, Center for Biological Diversity
Dick Green
Principal, DW-GREEN Associates
Lauren Pagel
Policy Director, Earthworks
Michael Garfield
Executive Director, Ecology Center
Stephanie Compton
Organizer, Energy Justice Network
Stephanie Erwin
Director of Circular Economy Policy, American Sustainable Business Network
Marcia Lehman
Board Member, Treasurer, Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC)
Tom Taylor
Co-Chair, Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group
Jose Luis Aguayo Pozo
Senior Science Associate, Center for Health, Environment & Justice
Trevor Jones
Campaign Manager, Only One
Jane Patton
Campaign Manager for Plastics & Petrochemicals, Center for International Environmental Law
Staci Rubin
Vice President, Environmental Justice Conservation Law Foundation
Alison L Steele
Executive Director, Environmental Health Project
Kathleen Holmay
Team Member, Environmental Ministry Team, Cedar Lane UU Church
Karen Cannon
Executive Director, Envision Frederick County
David Steigerwald
Maryland Legislative Representative, Chesapeake Earth Holders
Sue Y. Lee Mossman
Chair,C limate Action Campaign of the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Leah Redwood
National Mobilization Hub Volunteer, Extinction Rebellion US
Lisa Frank
Executive Director, Washington Legislative Office, Environment America
Marcie Keever
Oceans & Vessels Program Director, Friends of the Earth
Simrata Keshav
Founder, Go Green Vernon Hills & Lincolnshire
Nicole Cantello
President, AFGE Local 704
Jodie Bechard-Maro
Coordinator, Bristol Residents for Clean Air
Robina Suwol
Executive Director, California Safe Schools
Kathy Bartolomeo
Volunteer, Greenbelt Climate Action Network
Alison Burchell
Board Member, Outreach Co-Director, Colorado Democratic Party - Energy & Environmental Initiative
Tracy Carluccio
Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Stephen Brittle
President, Don't Waste Arizona
Pat Kelly-Fischer
Board Member, Environmental Action
Yvette Arellano
Executive Director, Fenceline Watch
Jim Walsh
Policy Director, Food & Water Watch
Leatra J Harper
Managing Director, FreshWater Accountability Project
Susan Penner
Co-Chair, Legislative Working Group, 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations
Nora Privitera
Co-Chair, Federal Climate Team, 350 Bay Area Action
Steph Compton
Organizer, Energy Justice Network
David Nickell
Council Chair, Heartwood
Caleb Merendino
Co-Executive Director, Waterway Advocates
Jamie McConnell
Deputy Director, Women's Voices for the Earth
Brenda Platt
Director, Composting for Community Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Basav Sen
Climate Policy Director, Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program
Mark J. Palmer
Associate Director, International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute
Dr. Tadesse Amera
Co-Chair, International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN)
Kirstie Pecci
Executive Director, Just Zero
Lori Mendez, Esq., MAS-MBC (SIO-2018)
Attorney, Law Offices of Lori R. Mendez
Anne Hedges
Co-Director, Director of Policy, Montana Environmental Information Center
Heather Cantino
Steering Committee Chair, Athens County's Future Action Network
Doris Yen H. Nguyen
Founder, Glen Echo Heights Mobilization
Arlene Blum, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute
Khrystle Bullock
Climate Justice Campaigner, Hip Hop Caucus
Mouli Venkatesan
Independent Analyst
Richard Deutschmann
Facilitator, Climate Action Team Indivisible Howard County MD
Bonnie Brydges
Board Member, Sustainable Practices, LTD
Melissa Jung
Program and Outreach Manager, Inland Ocean Coalition
Lisa Tyson
Director, Long Island Progressive Coalition
Marylee M. Orr
Executive Director, Louisiana Environmental Action Network
Cecilia Plante
Co-Chair, Maryland Legislative Coalition
Jennifer Swearingen
Assistant Director, Montanans Against Toxic Burning
Ashley Funk
Executive Director, Mountain Watershed Association
Elizabeth R. Ndoye
Facilitator, MoveOn.org Hoboken
Sharon Davlin
Board Member, Zero Waste Baltimore
Jennifer Driban
Senior Vice President, Chief Mission Officer, National Aquarium
Erica Donnelly-Greenan
Executive Director, Save Our Shores
Laura Anthony
Program Coordinator, Save the Albatross Coalition
Ted Schettler M.D., M.P.H.
Science Director, Science and Environmental Health Network
Martin Wolf
Director, Sustainability & Authenticity, Seventh Generation
Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H.
President & CEO, Rachel Carson Council
Tracy W. Rosenberg
Executive Director, Media Alliance
Cheryl Nenn
Riverkeeper, Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Dana Ripper
Executive Director, Missouri River Bird Observatory
Diana Younts
Co-Chair, MLC Climate Justice Wing
Cari Gardner
Vice Chair, New York Progressive Action Network
Lisa Adamson
Partner, North Country Earth Action
Laura Haight
US Policy Director, Partnership for Policy Integrity
Stiv Wilson
Co-Director, Peak Plastic Foundation
Abigail M. Jones
Vice President of Legal & Policy, PennFuture
Rev. Sandra L. Strauss
Director of Advocacy & Ecumenical Outreach, Pennsylvania Council of Churches
Edward Ketyer, M.D.
President, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania
Carol De Angelo
Director of Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Charity of New York
Jack Eidt
Co-Founder, SoCal 350 Climate Action
Martha Camacho Rodriguez
Director, Social Ecological Education-La (SEE)
Robin Schneider
Executive Director, Texas Campaign for the Environment
Christopher Chin
Executive Director, The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education (COARE)
Heather Hulton VanTassel
Executive Director, Three Rivers Waterkeeper
Paddy McClelland
Co-Founder, Wall of Women
Chris Wilke
Global Advocacy Manager, Waterkeeper Alliance
Susanne P Kernan
Steering Committee Chair, Rockland Citizens Action Network
Ting Barrow
Steering Committee, Uptown Progressive Action
Iyanu Corniel
Partnerships Director, PLAN: The Post Landfill Action Network
John Beard, Jr.
CEO, Port Arthur Community Action Network
Sarah K. Pierpont
Executive Director, Recycle Santa Fe
James O. Michel
Co-Founder, Resist the Pipeline
Jean Tepperman
Co-Coordinator, Sunflower Alliance
Timothy Edward Duda
Director, Terra Advocati
Josephine Gingerich
Regional Organizer - Appalachia, The Climate Reality Project
Don Ogden
Co-Producer/Co-Host, The Enviro Show
Ruth Kastner
Director, The Quantum Institute
Matt Casale
Environment Campaigns Director, U.S. PIRG
Jin Tanaka
Branch Manager, UNISC International
Selden Prentice
Federal Policy Lead, 350 Seattle
George Povall
Executive Director, All Our Energy
Cheryl Auger
President, Ban SUP (Single Use Plastic)
Katherine Black
Steering Committee Chair, Benicians for a Safe & Healthy Community
Andrew Hinz
Board Member, Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE)
Edna Litten
President, Beyond Plastics, Altamont NY
Jeanine Behr Getz
Founder, Bring Your Own Connecticut
Debby Lee Cohen
Executive Director, Cafeteria Culture
Jenn Engstrom
State Director, CALPIRG
Wes Gillingham
Associate Director, Catskill Mountainkeeper
Crystal Dreisbach
CEO, Don’t Waste Durham
Lee McNair
Board Member, Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry
Terry Lowman
Co-Chair, Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
Fran P. Aguirre
President, Unite North Metro Denver
Jean Ross
Board President, Vote Climate
Laura Olah
National Coordinator, Cease Fire Campaign
Gwen DuBois, MD, MPH
President, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Chesapeake
Rebecca Overmyer-Velazquez
Coordinator, Clean Air Coalition of North Whittier
Beto Lugo Martinez
Kansas Organizer, Clean Air Now
Jesse Marquez
Executive Director, Coalition for a Safe Environment
Joseph Wilson
Coordinator, Coalition for Outreach, Policy & Education
Kate Bailey
Policy Director, Eco-Cycle
Janet Byron
Co-Founder, El Cerrito Strollers & Rollers
Patrick Campbell
Executive Director, Group Against Smog & Pollution
Naomi Yoder
Staff Scientist, Healthy Gulf
Liz Feighner
Steering Committee, HoCo Climate Action
Doug Bender
Steering Committee, Indivisible, South Bay LA
Karen Goodheart
Board Member, It’s Easy Being Green
Liz Feighner
Co-Chair, Less Plastic Please
Jane Dow
Co-Chair, Mankato Zero Waste
Emily Scarr
Director, MDPIRG (Maryland)
Caroline Taylor
Executive Director, Montgomery Countryside Alliance
Barbara W Brandom, MD.
Steering Committee, Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania
Abraham Scarr
Senior Advisor, Environment Illinois
Luke Metzger
Executive Director, Environment Texas
Molly Hauck
Board Member, Environmental Justice Ministry Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist
Liat Meitzenheimer
President, Fresh Air Vallejo
Katie Craig
State Director, NCPIRG (North Carolina)
Nancy Stoner
President, Potomac Riverkeeper
Allie Rosenbluth
Campaigns Director, Rogue Climate
Diana Conway
President, Safe Healthy Playing Fields
Stephanie A. Blumenthal
President, Sheffield Saves
Diana Zuckerman
President, National Center for Health Research
Lynn Anderson
Treasurer, Youngstown Drinking Water Protection Community Bill of Rights
Sean Mohen
Executive Director, Tri-County Sustainability
Tracy Frisch
Chair, Clean Air Action Network of Glen Falls
Abraham Scarr
Director, ILPIRG (Illinois)
Patricia Albers
Plastics Division, Climate Action California
Martha Camacho-Rodriguez
Director, Social Ecological Education-LA
Marianne Comfort
Justice Coordinator, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
Graham Hamilton
US Policy Officer, Break Free From Plastic
Sister Joan Agro
Congressional Secretary, Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, NY
Celeste Delgado-Librero
Founder & Chair of the Board Sustainable Roanoke
Rebekah Thomson
Secretary, The Field Fund, Inc.
Gabrielle Rigutto
Environmental Health Researcher, US Berkeley
Alison Burchell
Senior Enviro. & Reclam. Geologist Climate & Energy Policy Advisor, Empower Our Future
Betsy Nicholas
Executive Director, Chesapeake Waterkeepers
Laura Olah
Executive Director, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
Timothy Watkins
CEO, Watts Labor Community Action Committee
Amanda Kiger
Executive Director, River Valley Organizing
Brya Ukena
CEO, Recycle Ann Arbor