Environment & Energy
Related: About this forum5 Years Into Agreement W. American Chemistry Council, DOE Still Pushing Non-Existent "Chemical Recycling" Technology
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According to the ACCs Eisenberg, after the Plastics Innovation Challenge was announced, American Chemistry Council members spoke with DOE to explore ways to support the initiative from a technology perspective, leading to the development of a memorandum of understanding in February 2020. The agencys partnership with the ACC was described in a 2020 press release as an opportunity to position the U.S. for global leadership in advanced recycling technologies, including plastic-to-energy conversion meaning the conversion of plastic waste back into fuel instead of new plastic products.
Daniel Simmons, then the DOEs assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, praised the industry and its products during the memos public signing. What does energy efficiency and renewable energy have to do with plastics recycling? Its one: because plastics are awesome, he said at the time. Obviously plastics can result in greater energy efficiency, food efficiency, a whole number of wonderful things.
The problem with plastics is not that they are bad, but because they are so good, and how do we make them better for the future? Environmental groups were immediately skeptical. Judith Enck, president of the nonprofit Beyond Plastics and a former regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, said she had never seen this before, referring to a multiyear agreement between a government agency and what is essentially an advocacy lobbying group. More typically, she said, if the government is interested in supporting a particular type of research it can funnel money to state agencies or conduct independent research through its network of national laboratories
Nearly a year after the agreement was announced, the memo had still not been posted publicly. In 2021, the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, filed a public records request for the memo and other communications between the DOE, ACC, and any other outside parties relating to chemical recycling and the departments Plastics Innovation Challenge. The request was filed under the Freedom of Information Act, which entitles the public to access any federal agency records unless they are specifically exempt from public view. Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal toxics policy at the NRDC and the author of that request, said the group is still seeking answers about how the Department of Energys focus on chemical recycling came about and the role industry players continue to have in shaping the departments approach to managing plastic pollution. Theres no transparency on how DOE is developing their policies around plastic waste, said Rosenberg. They seem very much in line with the industry agenda thats clearly formalized in the memorandum of understanding.
It wasnt until six months later that the DOE sent the NRDC the official memo but not any related documents answering the groups other questions. Last year, the NRDC sued the Energy Department for failing to respond to its requests and repeated outreach. Theyve done a pretty good job over the last five years of keeping public scrutiny at bay, said Rosenberg, who has since filed a second freedom of information request with the agency. What DOE does on plastic, how they spend their research money, the solutions theyre promoting, all of which is consequential were just trying to get to the bottom of how it all came about and how its continued to develop.
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https://grist.org/accountability/energy-department-american-chemistry-council-chemical-recycling/