Breaking down plastic waste chemically can halve its climate impact versus burning it
In short: Researchers compared the environmental footprint of three ways to handle mixed plastic waste using life cycle assessment: breaking it down chemically through a heat-based process called pyrolysis, recycling it mechanically, and recovering energy by burning it. They found the chemical approach produced about half the climate impact and energy use of burning plastic for energy, and performed similarly to mechanical recycling once recyclate quality was factored in.
Compared with making new plastic from fossil fuel, plastic recycled through this chemical process had a much lower climate footprint (-0.45 versus 1.89 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of plastic), though it fared worse than mechanical recycling, energy recovery and virgin plastic production on other environmental measures. The study used life cycle assessment to model three perspectives, and results were sensitive to assumptions such as regional energy mix and conversion efficiency, which the researchers flag as a key limitation.
Why it matters: Chemically recycling plastic waste can cut climate impact compared with burning it for energy, but may increase other environmental harms.
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