On January 27, 2022, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released a position paper on chemical recycling to provide guidance on effective and socially just recycling investment and infrastructure development. WWF proposes that following the principles laid out in the position can ensure recycling technologies meaningfully contribute towards a circular economy and are not misused for recycling accounting purposes or as a distraction from priority investments in reduction and reuse.
The WWF outlines ten “principles for credible and effective chemical recycling” though much of their reasoning behind developing the position paper is encapsulated in the first principle, that “chemical recycling should not divert resources from efforts to implement existing proven approaches” for plastic pollution, in particular reduction and reuse (FPF reported). Simply because there will be less need for experimental technologies like chemical recycling if there is less plastic production overall, and if the materials used are simplified to allow recycling by proven mechanical means (FPF reported, also here).
Additionally, WWF says, chemical recycling operations should complement existing recycling infrastructure, by not competing with mechanical recycling for material. Research by The Pew Charitable Trust in 2020 estimated that chemical recycling may only offset 5% of the demand for virgin plastic by 2040 due to the difficulties of scaling up the technology (FPF reported). Other principles in WWF’s position include that chemical recycling facilities should demonstrate the technology is safe for human health, and also for the air, water, and environment (FPF reported).
On February 8, 2022, WWF published findings from a review of nearly 2590 studies on the impacts of plastic pollution on marine animals and ecosystems. WWF-commissioned researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute reported that plastic contamination in the ocean is irreversible and microplastic concentrations in some regions are probably already above a threshold in which “significant ecological risks are likely to occur.” This microplastic threshold has been passed in the Mediterranean, East China and Yellow Seas, and the Arctic sea ice. The researchers summarized that, “a total of 2,141 species have so far been found to encounter plastic pollution in their natural environments.” And, “if plastic pollution continues growing at current rates, researchers predict that 99.8% of all seabird species will ingest plastics by 2050, while evidence of ingestion and/or entanglement has already been found in all marine turtle species.”
The WWF previously expressed support for a United Nations global treaty on plastic pollution (FPF reported) and used the new information collected by the Alfred Wegener Institute to once again call on UN member nations to take action. Other recent research found synthetic chemical production, including plastics, is already causing harm to the biological systems that humans depend on for a healthy life (FPF reported, also here). Participants at the UN Environmental Assembly meeting in late February 2022 will attempt to negotiate a treaty to curtail plastic pollution (FPF reported).
Read More
World Wildlife Fund (January 2022). “WWF position: Chemical recycling implementation principles.” (pdf)
Jamie Hailstone (February 1, 2022). “We Cannot Recycle Our Way Out Of The Plastic Crisis, Warns WWF.” Forbes
Tekman, M. B., et al. (January 2022). “Impacts of plastic pollution in the oceans on marine
species, biodiversity and ecosystems.” World Wildlife Fund (pdf)
World Wildlife Fund (February 8, 2022). “Plastic contamination of the ocean is irreversible, warns WWF.”
Deutsche Welle (February 8, 2022). “Plastic pollution in oceans growing dramatically, WWF warns.”
