Defending Innovation in Plastics Recycling

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Donald Trump administration's decision to cancel $375 million in federal funding for Eastman Chemical Co.'s Longview, Texas, chemical recycling project is a disheartening blow — not just to one company but also to the very future of plastics waste management in the United States.

Let's be clear: The Eastman project is exactly the kind of innovation that the plastics industry needs. It addresses one of our thorniest problems — mixed and difficult-to-recycle plastics waste — and it advances the vision of a truly circular economy.

It is disappointing that the Eastman news comes shortly after Trump pulled funding from another high-profile plastics project: International Recycling Group's massive Erie, Pa., plant.

IRG canceled its project when it lost the federal financing. That underscores just how dependent early-stage recycling technologies are on public investment.

Short-term thinking threatens long-term solutions

Industry consultants Esteban Sagel and Howard Rappaport are right to sound the alarm. As Sagel notes, novel recycling technologies require "a lot of capital and a long-term vision and strategy." But that vision is often at odds with private capital markets that demand quick returns. That's precisely when government must step in to fill the gap — to nurture transformative ideas from pilot stage to industrial scale.

Let's not pretend this was just a fiscal decision. The Department of Energy's reasoning — that the projects wouldn't meet U.S. "energy needs" — overlooks the broader value of reducing waste, decarbonizing industry and building domestic resilience.

As Rappaport rightly points out, this withdrawal "could not have come at a worse time." The industry is just beginning to emerge from a deep earnings trough. Meanwhile, we are bombarded by negative headlines on microplastics, health effects and environmental concerns.

If we're serious about changing the narrative and building trust, then projects like IRG and Longview must succeed.

The Longview project may still move forward. But others may not. If this continues, then the U.S. risks locking itself into outdated technologies. The U.S. shouldn't be retreating. We should be doubling down — or we'll watch as Europe and Asia take the lead in sustainable polymer technologies.

That's not to say that chemical recycling is a silver bullet. But dismissing it outright — or starving it of support — is shortsighted.

Courtesy: www.plasticsnews.com