What’s trending right now? Lots of chatter about the safety of plastics: Are plastics safe in food packaging? Are they safe in carry-out food containers? What about the plastics in my kitchen? What should I do? Questions like these are the result of pressure groups targeting plastics — the very plastics that have been approved [...]
About Steve Russell
Vice President, Plastics Division | American Chemistry CouncilIllinois Sustainable Technology Center studies energy potential of non-recycled plastics
Given our nation’s need to improve energy security, a diverse energy supply is more important than ever. That diversity includes technologies that derive energy from waste, enabling us to harness the power of this underutilized resource. A new report released earlier this month revealed in greater detail the energy that can be derived from used [...]
New plastics-to-oil technologies alliance revs up
Are used plastics poised to become the new black gold? The American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division recently announced the launch of a new group whose members are developing commercial scale technologies for converting non-recycled used plastics into crude oil and other petroleum based products (read full press release). The new Plastics-to-Oil Technologies Alliance is working [...]
U.S. EIA: America’s plastics makers triple exports on half the energy
Data released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirms what U.S. plastics manufacturers have been seeing firsthand of late – solid growth in plastics production and exports, combined with improved efficiencies, which allow their businesses to draw less energy from our nation’s abundant natural gas supply. The graph above tells the story. The [...]
ACC, LA Chamber co-host panel discussion on potential to recover energy from California’s waste
If you’re following the growing interest in technologies that convert waste into various forms of energy and fuels, you’ll be interested to know that on November 15, ACC and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel discussion on the economic and environmental benefits of energy recovery. More than 80 business and civic leaders [...]
New video highlights growing interest in technologies that transform waste into energy
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has released a new video that provides a quick overview and some compelling statistics about the benefits of recovering energy from waste. “Don’t Trash Our Energy” explains that energy recovery is happening right now in 86 facilities in 25 states across the U.S. and that emerging technologies in this area [...]
Could waste-to-energy become our country’s cleanest source of electricity?
A former top science advisor thinks it can. For the last 28 years, a waste-to-energy facility in Alexandria, Virginia, has processed trash from the surrounding community. A few years ago, the U.S. Capitol began sending its waste –about 5,000 tons every year – to the same facility, Covanta Alexandria/Arlington, Inc., producing enough additional electricity to [...]
Governing Magazine explores the potential of converting waste into energy
When Dylan Scott from Governing Magazine took a recent tour of Covanta’s waste-to-energy facility in Northern Virginia, one of the first things that struck him was how much trash this facility processes daily: Each day, Covanta converts nearly 100 tons of municipal solid waste (that would otherwise be lost to landfill) into energy – that’s [...]
Science writer highlights how recovering energy from waste helps fight climate change
In a recent article for the Huffington Post, science writer and founder of ScienceDebate.org Shawn Lawrence Otto writes about how misperceptions concerning waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities have actually worked against the effort to address climate change. Otto characterizes opposition to WTE technology as “misguided,” and adds: In the article, Otto points out that Americans recycle and [...]
Energy recovery fights climate change and supports the economy, CAP report shows
In addition to recycling and composting, there’s another way communities can help fight climate change – by converting more of their waste into energy. The Center for American Progress (CAP) recently published a great story on how recovering energy from waste reduces greenhouse gas emissions and supports local economies. According to CAP, the United States [...]
- Chemistry to help lift winter athletes to peak performance in Sochi
- What’s missing from Nick Kristof’s latest column?
- New video highlights growing interest in technologies that transform waste into energy
- Visit ReformTSCA.com to learn more about the Chemical Safety Improvement Act
- Re: “Think Those Chemicals Have Been Tested?” in Sunday’s NYT
News Releases
- Manufacturing Coalition Announces Principles for Effective Alternative Assessments March 4, 2014
- ACC Releases January 2014 Resin Production and Sales Stats March 4, 2014
- New Network to Advocate for Biobased Chemistry March 4, 2014
- Study on Prostate Cancer Fundamentally Misinterprets BPA Exposure Data March 3, 2014
- Study: Plastic Packaging Enables Significant Energy and Greenhouse Gas Savings in U.S., Canada March 3, 2014
