New Plastic Recycling Facility Faces Strong Opposition from Environmental Groups

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The proposed plastic recycling facility off of East Lake Road to be built by Erie-based International Recycling Group (IRG) is seen facing firm opposition from various environmental groups.

The company was granted a loan of $182 million by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) towards building the new facility. Since the receipt of the loan a month ago, The DoE secretary has received a letter signed by as many as 106 environmental groups, urging it to withdraw the loan guarantee. The better way to reduce plastics is to eliminate it, rather than recycling, they pointed out.

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The proposed facility would have accepted plastics from a wide region and converted them into pellets for reuse. In addition to reducing plastic waste, it would also have created several hundreds of construction and engineering jobs.

Russell Taylor, chairperson for Our Water, Our Air, Our Rights highlighted the need to find alternatives to plastics. Plastics being highly inflammable, the facility poses risks of toxic chemicals into the environment, in the event of a fire incident, he said.

However, Mitch Hecht, Chairman, IRG, in a statement, said that the environmental groups from outside Erie have grossly misrepresented the nature of the recycling project. The letter sent to the Energy Secretary contains multiple misstatements and distortions. The project would be a major win in fighting plastic pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he added.