ACC and its members support the pursuit of a more Circular Economy, one that prioritizes resource conservation and efficiency, design innovations that enable longer product lifespans, and reuse, recycling and recovery technologies that allow us to capture the greatest value from materials that have traditionally been discarded.
Progress toward a circular economy should include not only responsible use of natural resources, but also enable the reuse, repurposing, recycling and recovery of the value locked in materials traditionally viewed as waste.
- The chemical industry has set an ambitious goal that 100 percent of U.S. plastic packaging is recycled, recovered, or reused by 2040.
- The chemical industry is working to keep plastics out of landfills and the environment by pursuing advanced recycling that creates new, high-quality plastics out of used plastics.
To achieve the greatest societal and environmental benefits, circular economy initiatives should embrace a holistic view of the economy that considers both environmental and societal impacts of a product or material across its lifecycle.
