Our planet can’t keep up with the current “produce, use, dispose” way of doing things — it’s simply unsustainable. At Fidra, we’re committed to driving the shift toward a better model: “refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle.” While reducing production remains the priority, effective recycling solutions are increasingly important.
That’s why we’ve published our latest position paper on chemical recycling.
What is Chemical Recycling?
While most people associate recycling with mechanical processes like sorting and shredding, chemical recycling involves breaking waste plastics down into their chemical components. Technologies such as pyrolysis and gasification aim to transform plastic waste into reusable chemical materials. With global plastic waste more than doubling between 2000 and 2019 — and only 9% currently recycled [1] — chemical recycling is being explored as a potential solution to the growing plastic crisis.
Challenges and concerns
However, the environmental trade-offs and limitations of chemical recycling deserve careful attention.
The effectiveness of chemical recycling remains unproven at scale. It often demands high energy inputs, diminishing its environmental benefits. Moreover, plastics contain thousands of chemicals, including toxic additives like PFAS and flame retardants [2], [3]. While some chemical recycling processes can remove harmful substances, they can also produce dangerous by-products and emissions that pose new risks to air, water, and soil [4].
Another major concern is that chemical recycling may not truly support a closed-loop economy, as some recycled materials degrade over time [4]. Additionally, large investments in chemical recycling could inadvertently lock us into a high-plastic future, delaying critical progress toward a low-waste, low-carbon society.
Credit: Hermes Rivera -Unsplash
“We cannot recycle our way out of the plastics and chemicals crisis. While chemical recycling may offer some limited solutions, it must not become a reason to continue producing large volumes of plastic. Real progress means tackling the problem at its source — by reducing plastic production and eliminating harmful chemicals from our economy all together.”
Hannah Evans, Project Manager, Fidra
Fidra’s conclusion
While chemical recycling may have a supporting role in advancing circular economy goals, Fidra emphasises that limiting plastic production and phasing out harmful chemicals must remain the top priorities. Any expansion of chemical recycling must not divert resources away from these priorities and must be critically assessed within a full environmental context — considering lifecycle emissions, waste outputs, energy sourcing, and the risk of continued plastic dependency.
A sustainable future depends not just on better recycling — but on fundamentally rethinking our relationship with plastic.
Resources
For more on chemicals and plastics, please check out our resources below:
- Our report “Safe and Circular: How Controls on Chemicals Enable a Circular Economy” which examines the impact of chemicals on the UK’s circular economy.
- Our chemicals and nurdles webpage, highlighting how plastic pellets can pollute harmful chemicals throughout their whole lifecycle.
- Our webinar ‘Nurdles and their toxic chemical tag-along’ – Fidra and expert speakers give an overview of the chemical threats lurking in plastic pellets.
References
[1] OECD (2022), Global Plastics Outlook: Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options. OECD Publishing. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1787/de747aef-en.
[2] Fidra (2025), Chemicals & Nurdles. Fidra. Available at: Chemicals & Nurdles – Nurdle Hunt Hub
[3] Bell, L and Gitlitz, J (2023), Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception. Beyond Plastics & International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) Available at: https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/chemical-recycling
[4] Hann, S. and Connock, T. (2020), Chemical recycling: State of play. Report for CHEM Trust, Eunomia.