New Hampshire welcomes ‘advanced recycling’ of plastics as some call for tighter regulations

Submitted by EnergyNewsNetwork t3_11s2gnr in newhampshire

This is Kathryn from the Energy News Network, sharing our latest story on New Hampshire’s embrace of “advanced recycling.”

The term refers to a range of technologies that break down plastics into their molecular building blocks, and converts them into fuels or new plastics. A startup company, Prima America Corp., has been trying for three years to bring a plastics-to-diesel facility to Groveton, but is still in what Prima’s manager calls “the test phase.”

The company has a history of non-compliance with state environmental regulatory rules, and critics say advanced recycling generates hazardous waste and air pollutants, and remains unproven at scale.

But even as Rhode Island lawmakers look to ban a kind of advanced plastic recycling, New Hampshire has become the only New England state to classify the facilities as manufacturing operations, rather than as more tightly regulated solid waste management operations.

You can find the whole story here: https://energynews.us/2023/03/15/new-hampshire-welcomes-advanced-recycling-of-plastics-as-some-call-for-tighter-regulations/

We’re a nonprofit news site covering the clean energy transition throughout the U.S. I’m here for any questions!

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ImmediateSympathy752 t1_jcboyp5 wrote

I’ve heard in parts or Europe they burn the plastic and convert that energy to electricity. Why don’t we do that? There’s a giant bio-mass plant in Berlin that’s going to provide heat to the downtown streets. What if the bio-mass was plastic waste instead?

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EnergyNewsNetwork OP t1_jcbrdfx wrote

Replying to ImmediateSympathy752 (#2,237,426)

Some parts of the U.S. do burn plastic for energy (this national lab says about 9% of all plastic waste went to that in 2019 https://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2022/nrel-calculates-lost-value-of-landfilled-plastic-in-us.html). But there are definitely concerns that burning plastic could create a lot of air pollution, and it emits greenhouses gases just like any fossil fuel: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/should-we-burn-plastic-waste

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smartest_kobold t1_jcbv6r9 wrote

Look, how will our children be prepared for the future without a steady diet of mutagens.

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lantonas t1_jcby7wp wrote

Recycling of plastic, also known as; landfill.

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UnfairAd7220 t1_jcc27rt wrote

I heard about them a couple years back and was hoping to, eventually, get a plant visit, just because I'm a technical geek and I serve on my town's energy commission.

The process would seem to be very clean. I'm wondering if those 'rule violations' are paperwork compliance mandates?

Of course they're necessary, but it doesn't damage the value of the process.

I've seen the WM waste sortation facility in Billerica and the sheer volume of baled #2 they get makes it a terrific source. They also have a #4 stream they simple get incinerated that could also go to Groveton. Might be a nice tie in. I'm sure WM would have the horsepower to clean up the paperwork violations.

'For example, she said, dioxin, a highly toxic carcinogen, is a well-known product of heating plastic waste material.

“I think toxic substances could be in the fuels that these folks are looking to sell, and dioxins could be unknowingly released in the burning of those fuels,” she said. '

That allegation is misleading and fear mongering. The material that will do what she fears uses #3 (PVC) plastics. They have nothing to do with #2 and #4 HDPE and LDPE.

I'm concerned that the CLF's fearmongering is steering the discussion.

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Umbert360 t1_jcchabi wrote

Replying to EnergyNewsNetwork (#2,237,545)

As bad as putting plastic in a landfill is, doesn’t it serve as a carbon sink? Wouldn’t converting the plastic to diesel, then burning the diesel re-release the carbon back into the atmosphere, not to mention any other pollutants in the plastic?

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schillerstone t1_jcd2tld wrote

"advanced" recycling used to be called by what it is: chemical recycling , until they realized that doesn't test well.

Did you miss the news about the Ohio plastic chemicals train crash, one of the biggest environmental disasters the country has ever experienced? Chemical recycling is a scam and needs to be outlawed

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EnergyNewsNetwork OP t1_jcfsnlq wrote

Replying to UnfairAd7220 (#2,238,100)

Some of the violations are paperwork-related, like failing to file an emissions report on time. But an inspection also found some issues with Prima's petroleum storage tanks.

At least in NH, the problem with Prima's start seems to only be profitability, not CLF and other opposition. This bill with opposition support (https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=959&inflect=2) wants to tighten advanced recycling regulation, though.

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