Governor Tom Wolf signed HB 1808 into law, which will enable greater adoption of advanced plastics recycling. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) welcomed the legislation and issued the following statement: “The American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division is pleased to see bipartisan policy supporting advanced recycling become law in Pennsylvania, and we thank Representative Mackenzie for sponsoring this important legislation and Governor Wolf for signing it into law.
“HB 1808 helps provide regulatory certainty for advanced plastics recycling processes and correctly defines these technologies as manufacturing. It will help Pennsylvania attract new recycling businesses and support job creation, while keeping more plastic out of landfills and, instead, turning them into valuable new materials and products. Advanced recycling refers to several different technologies that convert post-use plastics into their original chemical building blocks to produce new plastics, waxes and other products.
“Pennsylvania is the ninth state to pass such legislation since 2017. It joins Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, and Ohio in recognizing that post-use plastics are not waste but a valuable material for manufacturing. Not only does this law recognize that innovative advanced recycling technologies will help us achieve a more circular economy for plastics, it could also help states and communities meet their recycling or zero waste goals. We look forward to seeing new states pass similar legislation in 2021.
“Several of America’s leading plastics makers have a large presence in Pennsylvania, providing thousands of jobs and tax revenue, and are committed to helping end plastic waste.
“HB 1808 comes at a time when the advanced plastics recycling industry is expanding rapidly. As of November 2020, the private sector has announced $4.3 billion in advanced recycling investments in the U.S. Collectively, these projects have the potential to divert more than 4.0 million metric tons (approximately 8.9 billion pounds) of waste from landfills each year.
“Converting just 25% of the recoverable post-use plastics in Pennsylvania could support ten advanced plastics recycling facilities and generate $314 million in new economic output annually.”