The term "chemical recycling" refers to a wide range of technologies that process recovered plastic products (including packaging) into new plastic, as well as energy and/or fuel. These technologies have become a lightning rod: producers claim they leapfrog mechanical recycling by enabling infinite processing, while environmental groups allege that they undermine efforts to reduce plastic through upstream redesign and are simply another form of greenwashing. Yet as of 2021, more than 40 companies are working to develop or manage chemical recycling projects in the United States, and 20 states-including, most recently, Missouri and New Hampshire-have enacted laws that allow chemical recycling facilities to be permitted as manufacturing facilities.
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