Ocean

Q: Shouldn’t we eliminate plastics wherever possible, instead of trying to recycle or remanufacture plastic already in the supply chain?

YES!  We fully subscribe to the Sustainable Waste Management Hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (US EPA), and support policies and organizations reducing our over-dependence on plastics. 

But the plastic waste problem is huge and getting worse every day. Even if we were to snap our fingers and immediately cease plastic production globally (and no one expects that day to come anytime soon), there is still 6.3 billion tons (National Geographic) of plastic that has already been produced, reached the end of its useful life, and not been responsibly addressed.

“Current U.S. reprocessing capability is so low that only PET and HDPE are functionally recyclable” (Greenpeace) and less than 30% of PET and HDPE are actually recycled (US EPA),

Combining the PET and HDPE that aren’t recycled with the vast majority (EPA) of plastic categories that can’t be practically recycled — there’s plenty to clean up “We can’t recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis,” (Greenpeace)

Our plastics crisis is a big, complicated puzzle, requiring a comprehensive response. While Reduction is the first R toward solving the puzzle, Clean Seas is filling in an important piece.

“There are only 4 ways to handle plastic at the end of its life. Plastic waste can be recycled, destroyed or converted to fuel or energy through incineration or pyrolysis, disposed of in managed waste systems or discarded where it ends up in the natural environment, “ – The Ocean Conservancy  

Q: Aren’t you diverting plastic that would otherwise be recycled?

A: No,  #1 & #2 waste plastics enjoy a strong market — primarily in textile manufacturing –even after China’s National Sword policy Clean-Seas will convert plastics that are not readily recyclable (#3-7 plastics) 

Clean-Seas will actually enhance overall recycling in several ways — 

• saving taxpayers and towns substantial fees they currently pay to dispose of their plastic waste,
• adding much-needed transparency to where our waste goes, and
• reducing the impact of “wish cycling” contamination; our process can handle all plastics. 

Q: Does Clean-Seas pyrolysis emit hazardous heavy metals like lead and mercury, or highly toxic pollutants like dioxins and PFAS? What about your products?

A: No. Pyrolysis creates no emissions and the syngas we produce are consumed onsite to heat the pyrolysis system. Emissions from the syngas are far less than EPA and state compliance standards.

The ultra-low sulfur diesel we produce powers local transportation, and emissions will be the same or less as from any other diesel fuel. Offsetting the fossil-fuel exploration, processing, and transportation that our locally-produced ultra-low sulfur diesel is replacing, Clean-Seas yields a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.

The carbon black char we produce is virtually inert, and valuable in manufacturing tires, ink-jet toner, printing, etc.

We pledge full transparency of any and all environmental impacts and will share all impact data on our website.

Q: Does pyrolysis use more energy than it’s worth?

A: No.  In fact, Clean-Seas’ pyrolysis can work completely independent from the electrical grid; all the energy we need is generated on-site from the syngas created during pyrolysis. Overall, pyrolysis is more than twice as efficient as Waste-To-Energy incineration, and incalculably more efficient than landfilling or otherwise discarding plastics. 

Is pyrolysis the same as incineration?

A: No.  Incineration is destruction by combustion; combustion requires oxygen, and creates undesirable byproducts.

Pyrolysis involves heating feedstock (in this case waste plastics) within a sealed, air tight chamber to the point of breaking them down (“cracking”)  into chemical components (in this case, ultra-low sulfur diesel, carbon black char, and syngas/hydrogen.)

Q: Wait, is pyrolysis recycling? Or Not?

A:  Good question!

Recycling /ri:’saɪklɪŋ/ noun: “The action or process of converting waste into reusable material,” (Oxford Languages) 

“Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products,” (US EPA)

You may also hear terms like “chemical recycling,” or “advanced recycling” applied to pyrolysis, especially for applications that produce plastic resin instead of fuel (paradoxically creating more plastic, but more like “recycling!”)

Some simply say plastics recycling is a lie. Others say pyrolysis represents Recovery rather than Recycling.

Semantics aside, we focus on the net positive impact of converting plastics to valuable products, offsetting other, harmful ways of producing those same products, and avoid true Waste.