Critics Accuse Plastic Industry of Greenwashing Chemical Recycling Claims

Amid a growing global plastic pollution crisis, the plastics industry is promoting chemical recycling—also called advanced recycling—as a solution to curb fossil‑fuel‑driven production. Critics argue that the industry’s accounting practices and marketing language obscure the true environmental impact of these technologies. While chemical recycling uses intense heat, pressure, or chemicals to break plastic into molecular building blocks, the industry’s claims that products contain “20 % recycled plastic” may be misleading, as the actual amount of recycled material produced remains very small. The most common method, pyrolysis, converts waste plastic into oil that can be refined into new chemicals, but the process still relies on incineration‑style disposal. These practices raise concerns that the industry is rebranding polluting incineration as a cleaner alternative, potentially misleading consumers and hindering progress toward binding limits on plastic production.