Date: July 14, 2022
To:
The Honorable Michael S. Regan Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Regan,
Thank you for all that you are doing at the EPA to center the needs and concerns of environmental justice communities across the country. We are grateful for your leadership and the critical actions you have committed to in the wake of your Journey to Justice Tour. We look forward to supporting any and all efforts to center the needs and demands of frontline communities who have been neglected for far too long.
We, the undersigned, are writing today to express our deep concern over the EPA’s apparent willingness to enable so-called “chemical recycling” or “advanced recycling,” misleading umbrella terms fashioned by the petrochemical industry to greenwash incineration technologies, namely pyrolysis and gasification.
As you know, the Trump EPA sought to exempt pyrolysis and gasification incinerators from Section 129 of the Clean Air Act, which regulates solid waste combustion. The practical effect of such a move would be to allow these incinerators to operate without pollution controls, without emission limits or monitoring requirements, and without accountability to the predominantly poor and minority communities where they operate. There are no other federal standards that apply to pyrolysis and gasification incinerators. Trying to issue new regulations for them under Section 112 would be a difficult and time-consuming process: first EPA would need to list them as a new category of area sources under Section 112(c)(3) and then EPA would need to promulgate new standards for the newly created category. A positive outcome for such a process would be highly uncertain and would take years, if not decades.
It is alarming that the Trump Administration’s unlawful move to eliminate critical health protections for communities living in close proximity to these facilities has not been withdrawn by the Biden Administration. If the EPA does not regulate pyrolysis and gasification incinerators under Section 129, it would effectively strip emissions regulations and monitoring requirements for some of the most hazardous air pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act, including lead, cadmium, mercury, and dioxins. Equally alarming is the inclusion of “advanced recycling” in the EPA’s 2021 National Recycling Strategy. You are right to point out in your introduction to the strategy that Americans are confused about what materials can be recycled. Industry is preying upon that confusion to push a fantastical technology that to date has not been proven effective, economically viable, or safe. You also rightly state that living near recycling facilities takes a toll on already overburdened communities when materials are not properly managed. Exempting pyrolysis and gasification incinerators and incentivizing their application to mixed plastic waste streams will only compound the threats these communities are facing.
The vast majority of what industry refers to as “advanced recycling” are actually plastic-to-fuel operations where plastic feedstocks are partially burned to create diesel fuels or synthetic gas (syngas). These fuels are typically burned onsite to operate the plant itself or blended with cleaner commercial fuels and burned elsewhere. There is ample evidence to suggest that uncontrolled emissions from these processes pose significant health and safety risks for local populations, placing a heavy toxic burden on workers and surrounding communities, the majority of which are low income and communities of color.
Over the last 20 years, roughly 40 plastic-to-fuel and “advanced recycling” facilities have come online in the U.S., all but a handful shuttered by insurmountable technical failures and the exorbitant cost of sourcing, transporting, and cleaning what has proven an intrinsically contaminated feedstock. Of the plants supposedly still in operation, none of them are creating new plastic, despite their claims. In 2018, Oregon-based Agilyx, a polystyrene pyrolysis plant that purports to create virgin-like styrene and is held up by industry as the paragon of “advanced recycling,” sent nearly 500,000 lbs of hazardous waste to be burned in cement kilns across the country, polluting the air in communities like Tacoma, Wash. and Hannibal, Mo. with benzene and vinyl chloride.
Let us be absolutely clear: there is nothing advanced, sustainable, or circular about incinerating plastic back into a fossil fuel to be combusted, nor should any such process be considered recycling. We know that burning plastic creates significant GHG emissions while simultaneously releasing a host of known human carcinogens and neurotoxicants. The EPA has a legal and moral obligation to uphold the regulatory standards that serve to minimize community exposure to hazardous pollutants emitted during industrial processes. Burning plastic in order to create and combust low-quality fuels is incompatible with a climate safe future and directly contradicts the Biden Administration’s commitment to center the needs of environmental justice communities across the country.
With global plastic production expected to triple by 2050, the plastics industry is looking for ways to counter the growing global movement to dramatically reduce the production of plastic that is choking the environment and poisoning the planet. But techno-pseudo-fixes like “advanced recycling” will do nothing to eliminate waste or create the kind of resilient and sustainable future our children deserve. On the contrary, if the EPA enables these deceptive industry schemes and chooses to exempt pyrolysis and gasification units from Section 129 of the Clean Air Act it will only incentivize petrochemical expansion and the buildout of plastic incineration infrastructure, while deepening environmental injustice and permanently locking us into a future of limitless plastic production, consumption, and waste.
We strongly urge the EPA to withdraw the proposal to exempt pyrolysis and gasification incinerators from Section 129 of the Clean Air Act and ensure that regulations to protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of industrial pollution remain intact. We appreciate your attention to this critical issue and would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the climate and environmental justice impacts of plastic burning and so-called “advanced recycling” schemes.
Sincerely,
Jim Pew
Senior Attorney
Earthjustice
Judith Enck
President
Beyond Plastics
Jane Williams
Executive Director
California Communities Against Toxics
Lisa Ramsden
Senior Oceans Campaigner
Greenpeace USA
Yvette Arellano
Founder, Executive Director
Fenceline Watch
Sonya Lunder
Senior Toxics Policy Advisor
Sierra Club
Sarah Packer
Director, Petrochemicals, Plastics & Climate
Center for Environmental Health
Matthew Davis
Senior Director, Government Affairs
League of Conservation Voters
John Beard Jr.
CEO
Port Arthur Community Action Network
Nicole Kurian
Policy Analyst
Californians Against Waste
Frankie Orona
Executive Director
Society of Native Nations
Bianca Lopez
Co-Founder, Director
Valley Improvement Projects
Daniel Rosenberg
Director of Federal Toxics Policy
Natural Resources Defense Council
Martin Bourque
Executive Director
Ecology Center
Monica Wilson
Associate Director
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Renee Sharp
Strategic Advisor
Safer States
Shannon Smith
Executive Director
FracTracker Alliance
Stephanie Erwin
Director of Circular Economy Policy
American Sustainable Business Network
Melissa Miles
Executive Director
New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Marcie Keever
Oceans & Vessels Program Director
Friends of the Earth
Dr. Anja Brandon
US Plastics Policy Analyst
Ocean Conservancy
KT Andresky
Campaign Organizer
Breathe Free Detroit
Esteban Areanas-Pino
Policy Associate
Climate Justice Alliance
Amanda Kiger
Executive Director
River Valley Organizing
Alison Waliszewski
Policy & Outreach Manager
5 Gyres Institute
Alexandria Gordon
Campus Organizer
Student PIRGS
Christopher Chin
Executive Director
Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research and Education (COARE)
Barbara Beesley
Outreach Coordinator
IHM Sisters Justice, Peace & Sustainability Office
Drew Hudson
Founder
198 Methods
JL Andrepont, MPA, PhDc
Senior Policy Campaigner & Analyst
350.org
Pamela Miller
Executive Director
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Anni Hanna
Director
New Mexico Climate Justice
Christy Leavitt
Plastics Campaign Director
Oceana
Dianna Cohen
Co-Founder, CEO
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Anthony Tusino
Senior Officer, Plastic Policy Advocacy
World Wildlife Fund
Alejandra Warren
Executive Director
Plastic Free Future
Anne Petermann
Executive Director
Global Justice Ecology Project
Crystal Jackson Parker
President
North Ave & Hilton Street Business Community Task Force
Bobby Jones
President
Down East Coal Ash Environmental & Social Justice Coalition
Gabby Ross
Assateague Coastkeeper
Assateague Coastal Trust
Lisa Giordano
Executive Director
Association of Young Americans (AYA)
Teresa Mills
Executive Director
Buckeye Environmental Network
Sarah Steward
President
Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc.
Lisa DePaoli
Communications Manager
Center for Coalfield Justice
Sarah Woodbury
Director of Advocacy
Defend Our Health
Bridge Rauch
Environmental Justice Organizer
Clean Air Coalition
Bobbi Wilding
Executive Director
Clean & Healthy New York
Lynn Thorp
National Campaigns Director
Clean Water Action
Barbara W Brandom, MD
Steering Committee Member
Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania
Kate Bailey
Policy Director
Eco-Cycle
Sharon Lewis
Director
CT Coalition for Economic & Environmental Justice
Patricia Taylor
Director of the Plastics & Waste Reduction Project
Environment & Human Health, Inc.
Leah Redwood
Action Coordinator
Extinction Rebellion SF Bay
Robina Suwol
Executive Director
California Safe Schools
Lee McNair
Co-Leader
Cedar Lane Environmental Justice Ministry
Celeste McMickle
Founder
Celestial Solutions
Stephen Brittle
President
Don’t Waste Arizona
Mary Gutierrez
Director
Earth Action, Inc.
Diane Wittner
Principal
Echotopia LLC
Tracy Frisch
Founder, Lead Organizer
Clean Air Action Network of Glenn Falls, NY
Kimberly Miller
Member
FoCo Trash Mob
Rev. Sharon Buttry
Facilitator
Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments
Sue Lee Mossman
Chair
Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s Climate Action Campaign
Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli
General Coordinator
Farmworker Association of Florida
Kathy Kerridge
Board Member
Good Neighbor Steering Committee of Benicia
Patricia Wood
Executive Director
Grassroots Environmental Education
Hanna Testa
Director
Hannah4Change
Neil Seldman
Director
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Nancy LaPlaca
Principal
LaPlaca & Associates, LLC
Dave Arndt
Director
Locust Point Community Garden
Dave Shukla
Operations
Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy
Juan Jhong-Chung
Climate Justice Director
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Sam Pearse
Lead Campaigner
Story of Stuff Project
Elizabeth O’Nan
Director
Protect All Children’s Environment
Timothy Whitehouse
Executive Director
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Bradley Angel
Executive Director
Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice
Molly Rauch
Public Health Policy Director
Moms Clean Air Force
Kathleen Curtis
Founding Director
Moms for a Nontoxic New York
Johanna Fallert
Co-Leader
Mothers Out Front - Dutchess, NY
Guy Jacob
Conservation Chair
Nassau Hiking & Outdoor Club
Bob Gedert
President
National Recycling Coalition
Diana Bohn
Co-Coordinator
Nicaragua Center for Community Action
Trevor Jones
Campaign Manager
Only One
Liz Hitchcock
Director
Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
Wendy Morrill
President
South Coast Neighbors United
Charlene Lemoine
Waste Issues Representative
Waukesha County Environmental Action League
Brien Weiner
President
South Shore Audubon Society
Jean Tepperman
Co-Coordinator
Sunflower Alliance
Jennifer Savage
Senior Manager, Plastic Pollution Initiative
Surfrider Foundation
Timothy Edward Duda
Director
Terra Advocati
Josephine Gingerich
Regional Organizer
Appalachia Climate Reality Project
Jean Ross Board
President
Vote Climate
Caleb Merendino
Co-Founder
Waterway Advocates
Deborah Steward Anderson
Coordinator
Zero Waste Detroit
Graham Hamilton
US Policy Officer
Break Free From Plastic
Jan Dell
Founder, Independent Engineer
The Last Beach Cleanup
Jackie Nunez
Founder
The Last Plastic Straw
Joanie Steinhaus
Gulf Program Director
Turtle Island Restoration Network
John Blair
President
Valley Watch, Inc.
Paul Burns
Executive Director
Vermont Public Interest Research Group
Richard Anthony
Chairman
Zero Waste International Alliance
Yayoi Koizumi
Founder
Zero Waste Ithaca
Sue Maxwell
Chair
Zero Waste BC
Ruth Abbe
President
Zero Waste USA
CC: Janet McCabe, Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Dan Utech, Chief of Staff, Environmental Protection Agency
Joe Goffman, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Grant Cope, Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Richard Moore, Co-Chair, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
Peggy Shepard, Co-Chair, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council