NEWS


ExxonMobil is sued over recycling ‘myth’


The US state of California is taking ExxonMobil to court in a dispute over plastics pollution and the effective- ness of plastics recycling. California Attorney


General Rob Bonta an- nounced on 23 September, the filing of a lawsuit against ExxonMobil alleging that the company intentionally misled consumers and continues to do so “by engaging in an aggressive campaign to deceive the public and perpetuate the myth that recycling will solve the crisis of plastic pollution”. The lawsuit follows a


wide-ranging investigation into fossil fuel and petro- chemical industries that has lasted over two years. In a complaint filed in the


San Francisco County Superior Court, the Califor- nia Department of Justice alleges that ExxonMobil has been deceiving Californians for half a century through


Rob Bonta, California Attorney General


“misleading public state- ments and slick marketing” implying that recycling would address the ever- increasing amount of plastic waste ExxonMobil produces. Bonta said: “For decades,


ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recy- cling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible.” A statement said: “More


recently, ExxonMobil continues to deceive the public by touting ‘advanced recycling’ as the solution to the plastic waste and pollution crisis.” It claimed that 92% of plastic waste processed through Exxon- Mobil’s advanced (chemical) recycling technology does not become recycled plastic, but rather primarily fuels. ExxonMobil’s initial


response was to blame the California state government for the failure of its plastics recycling system. In a statement, an ExxonMobil spokesperson said: “For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn’t effective. They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills.” � https://oag.ca.gov � https://corporate.exxonmobil.com


New circular R&D project in Finland


Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre has been named coordinator of the PlasticsCircularity initia- tive, a joint research project between VTT, institutes, universities and seven business partners. The project, part of the Business Finland funded SPIRIT programme led by Borealis, approaches the circular economy of plastics from the points of view of regulation, business models, and technological solutions. VTT said that currently, only high-quality and sufficiently large waste streams are part of the cycle with there being no functional recycling system for plastics that are difficult to recycle. The PlasticsCircularity project will investigate the related bottlenecks and seek workable solutions. � www.vttresearch.com


Success in wind turbine blade project


The ZEBRA (Zero wastE Blade ReseArch) project, led by the French Institute for Technological Research, IRT Jules Verne, says it has made significant leap forward in creating a circular economy in the wind energy sector through recy- cling thermoplastic wind turbine blades. The project successfully recycled Arkema’s Elium resin


IMAGE: ZEBRA


The ZEBRA project has created a closed loop system for wind turbine blades


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


and Ultrablade fabrics from wind turbine blades and manufacturing waste through thermolysis, achieving a yield of over 75%, before reformulating them back into usable materials. The project partners said this closed-loop process could be vital in addressing the growing challenge of end-of-life blade management in the wind energy industry. � www.irt-jules-verne.fr � www.arkema.com


October 2024 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 5


IMAGE: OFFICIAL


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