Coalition says Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act has unwelcome consequences

Alliance led by ACC says proposed federal law would limit chemical recycling’s potential.


A group consisting of representatives from plastic industry companies and trade associations has issued a news release voicing opposition to the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which is being prepared for reintroduction to the United States Congress.

The coalition, called America’s Plastic Makers, consists of two representatives from the Washington-based American Chemistry Council (ACC), plus the CEO of Dow Inc., a vice president from packaging firm Sealed Air Corp., a chemical engineering professor and executives from two companies that offer chemical recycling technology (also referred to by its backers as advanced recycling).

According to the group, the soon-to-be-reintroduced bill would “restrict the production of modern and innovative plastic materials and limit advanced recycling technologies needed to recover plastic waste and revolutionize how we use – and reuse – our plastic resources.”

“Plastics are an indispensable part of economic growth and vital to a low-carbon future,” says Jim Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow Inc. “Our focus as an industry and as a society should be continuing to deliver products and solutions that enable a more circular economy, strengthening our nation's supply chains and reinforcing our critical manufacturing capacity.”

The message of Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the ACC, to Congress is, “Leadership should announce this bill as dead on arrival. This bill would threaten lives by interrupting the manufacture of critical, life-saving materials; suffocate economic growth; and threaten our environment and any hope of making progress in the fight against climate change.”

America’s Plastic Makers says it has set a goal for all plastic packaging used in the U.S. to be reused, recycled or recovered by 2040. In the past three years, 66 projects worth more than $5.5 billion in chemical recycling investments have been announced in the U.S., adds the group.

“These innovative technologies are evolving the concept of traditional recycling and creating circular pathways for waste plastics, turning them back into the same plastics, intermediate products or low-carbon fuels,” says Bill Cooper, senior vice president of business development at Agilyx.

Bob Powell, CEO of Brightmark, comments, “Our company is nearing completion of a $260 million plastics renewal facility in Ashley, Indiana, with plans to create larger facilities here in the U.S. This legislation will hinder our progress and eliminate what may be the most effective tool at our collective disposal to recover plastic waste and produce new resources.”