New plastic recycling law might affect project
King of Prussia-based ReFined Plastics looking to convert former generating station
A new state law that regulates certain kinds of plastics recycling could benefit a project to reuse a former coal-generating plant in Cumru Township.
The law, which Gov. Tom Wolf signed Nov. 25, adds definitions of advanced recycling, including operations such as gasification, pyrolysis and post-use polymers to state solid waste law. It will allow burning plastic waste to be considered recycling, critics claim.
“We are very pleased that the governor has signed Bill 1808,” said Joseph D’Ascenzo, president and chief technology officer of King of Prussia-based ReFined Plastics, which wants to convert the former Titus Generating Station into a plastic recycling operation.
“It has the potential to bring thousands of brand-new, highpaying jobs to Pennsylvania,” he said. “Through the negotiating process with many other stakeholders we did not get all of the issues we wanted, but it is a huge step in the right direction. This opens a whole new economy for Pennsylvania.”
ReFined still does not own the 200-acre Titus property, which D’Ascenzo has been negotiating for more than two years to buy it from GenOn, the successor to Titus Power and Reliant Energy Mid-Atlantic.
“We are still working towards the closing of Titus,” he said in an email statement. “We expect it to happen very soon.”
ReFined Plastics $120 million project aims to turn the Titus station into a recycling facility that would take trash and turn it into plastic pellets.
D’Ascenzo has said it could be running as early as the end of 2022. The company received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
It would be the first facility in the United States for ReFined Plastics LLC, a five-year-old advanced recycling company.
The pellets would be virgin grade, meaning they are a quality that could be used by a variety of plastic manufacturers.
The material won’t originate in the recycle bin but will come from household trash. It is located next to the Western Berks Landfill.
About 98% of the waste would be converted to virgin grade pellets for use in the plastics industry. The rest would be sorted for recycling or converted into fuel. Titus Station’s three existing boilers with turbines would be recommissioned to provide renewable energy to the grid.
ReFined Plastics uses a process called pyrolysis, which uses high heat without oxygen to break down waste. It has been used to turn plastic waste into jet fuel.
‘This is not recycling’ Industry groups have applauded the law they say could open the door to new businesses.
Meanwhile, environmental groups were not happy with the impact it could have on air quality. They worry that it will end up only increasing reliance on single-use plastics when society should move away from them altogether.
State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Republican who represents Lehigh and portions of Berks County, was the prime sponsor of the bill, HB 1808.
Critics worried that it allows such facilities to be regulated more loosely as manufacturers and not as strictly as solid waste.
“House Bill 1808 will increase air pollution and Pennsylvania’s reliance on single-use plastics,” Joseph Otis Minott, executive director and chief counsel of Clean Air Council, said in a statement.
He criticized the law because it reduces regulatory requirements and defines “advanced recycling” to “include polluting practices like pyrolysis and gasification, which are expensive and turn plastics into, for example, jet fuel and crude oil.”
“Let’s be clear: This is not recycling,” Minott said. “HB 1808 will lead to increased fracking operations, since fracking is needed for the single-use plastics that will serve as feedstock for these ‘advanced recycling’ facilities. It may also lead to clean energy funding being redirected to dirty projects, as facilities that burn plastic may lobby for renewable energy credits.
“Although the majority voted for HB 1808, this legislation did not pass both chambers with veto-proof margins. This legislation should have been vetoed. I am disappointed that it wasn’t.”
Bipartisan support
The House passed the bill 15546.
It found bipartisan support from state representatives in the region.
Rep. Melissa Shusterman, a Democrat who serves parts of Chester and Montgomery counties, opposed the bill. In the Senate, the bill passed 30-19, with support from state Sens. David Argall and Bob Mensch, both Republicans, while Democrats Judy Schwank, Katie Muth and Andy Dinnaman opposed it.
Opponents of the bill said legislative efforts should focus on reducing plastics.
A few days before Wolf signed the bill, PennEnvironment released a report highlighting a policy trend known as producer responsibility, which works to keep product makers responsible for the waste their products create.
Pointing to programs such as California’s Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act, the report outlines ways legislators could reduce single-use plastics. An expanding industry According to American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division, Pennsylvania is the ninth state to pass such legislation since 2017.
It joins Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois and Ohio in regulating post-use plastics as a 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,” the council said in a news release. “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.”
The new law comes at a time when the advanced plastics recycling industry is expanding rapidly, according to the American Chemistry Council.
“As of November 2020, the private sector has announced $4.3 billion in advanced recycling investments in the U.S.,” the council wrote. “Collectively,
these projects have the potential to divert more than 4 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 10 advanced plastics recycling facilities and generate $314 million in new economic output annually.”
The overall percentage of plastic recycling is small, even by industry accounts.
While overall the amount of recycled plastics is relatively small — 3 million tons for an 8.5% recycling rate in 2018 — the recycling of some specific types of plastic containers is more significant.
The recycling rate of PET bottles and jars was 26.8% in 2018, and the rate for HDPE natural bottles was 29.3% in 2018, according to the EPA, which relied on industry data.
In 2018, landfills received 27 million tons of plastic, about 19% of all waste, according to the EPA.
About two years ago, China banned the import of foreign plastic waste, which sent recycling facilities scrambling to find a new market.
The Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council, which advocates on behalf of the
state’s chemical industry, maintained that advanced recycling technologies will not replace existing recycling infrastructure but will work in concert with it.
Recycling infrastructure already exists for plastics labeled Nos. 1-2, such as soda bottles and milk jugs.
These advanced recycling operations are focused on plastics Nos. 3-7, such as candy wrappers, bags and packaging, which are a burden on municipal recycling programs because they cannot be recycled in the existing mechanical recycling infrastructure.
“Plastics play a critical role in modern society and are too valuable to be thrown away or burned,” said Abby Foster, president of the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council. “These technologies extend the product life cycle and are providing a free market solution to help address a global and domestic challenge of waste management.
“Pennsylvania is fortunate to have a strong and growing petrochemical and plastics market, and potentially now an advanced recycling market to make a truly circular economy for plastics here in the commonwealth.”