The new report “Forever Toxic: The science of health threats from plastic recycling” from Greenpeace USA provides a catalog of peer-reviewed research and international studies, concluding that recycling actually increases the toxicity of plastics.

According to UNEP, plastics contain more than 13,000 chemicals, with more than 3,200 of them known to be hazardous to human health, says the report. Moreover, many of the other chemicals in plastics have never been assessed and may also be toxic.

The report notes that recycled plastics often contain higher levels of chemicals that can poison people and contaminate communities, including toxic flame retardants, benzene and other carcinogens, environmental pollutants like brominated and chlorinated dioxins, and numerous endocrine disruptors that can cause changes to the body’s natural hormone levels.

A new report from Greenpeace USA highlights the threat that recycled plastics pose to health. (Photo: Greenpeace)

Three “poisonous pathways” are highlighted in the report for recycled plastic material to accumulate toxic chemicals:

1. Direct contamination from toxic chemicals in virgin plastic: When plastics are made with toxic chemicals and then recycled, the toxic chemicals can transfer into the recycled plastics.

2. Leaching of toxic substances into plastic waste: Numerous studies show that plastics can absorb contaminants through direct contact and through the absorption of volatile compounds. When plastics are tainted by toxins in the waste stream and the environment and are then recycled, they produce recycled plastics that contain a stew of toxic chemicals.

3. New toxic chemicals created by the recycling process: When plastics are heated in the recycling process, this can generate new toxic chemicals that make their way into the recycled plastics. Studies have shown that benzene (a carcinogen) can be created by mechanical recycling of PET#1 plastic, even with very low rates of contamination by PVC#3 plastic, resulting in the cancer-causing chemical being found in recycled plastics.

“The plastics industry continues to put forward plastic recycling as the solution to the plastic pollution crisis. But this report shows that the toxicity of plastic actually increases with recycling,” said Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Campaign Lead at Greenpeace USA. “Plastics have no place in a circular economy and it’s clear that the only real solution to ending plastic pollution is to massively reduce plastic production.”

At the INC-2 meeting for the global plastic treaty taking place in Paris, the Greenpeace global network is advocating for an ambitious, legally binding agreement that accelerates a just transition away from a dependence on plastic materials and establishes global controls to regulate toxic chemicals in plastic.

The new report “Forever Toxic: The science of health threats from plastic recycling” from Greenpeace USA provides a catalog of peer-reviewed research and international studies, concluding that recycling actually increases the toxicity of plastics.

According to UNEP, plastics contain more than 13,000 chemicals, with more than 3,200 of them known to be hazardous to human health, says the report. Moreover, many of the other chemicals in plastics have never been assessed and may also be toxic.

The report notes that recycled plastics often contain higher levels of chemicals that can poison people and contaminate communities, including toxic flame retardants, benzene and other carcinogens, environmental pollutants like brominated and chlorinated dioxins, and numerous endocrine disruptors that can cause changes to the body’s natural hormone levels.

A new report from Greenpeace USA highlights the threat that recycled plastics pose to health. (Photo: Greenpeace)

Three “poisonous pathways” are highlighted in the report for recycled plastic material to accumulate toxic chemicals:

1. Direct contamination from toxic chemicals in virgin plastic: When plastics are made with toxic chemicals and then recycled, the toxic chemicals can transfer into the recycled plastics.

2. Leaching of toxic substances into plastic waste: Numerous studies show that plastics can absorb contaminants through direct contact and through the absorption of volatile compounds. When plastics are tainted by toxins in the waste stream and the environment and are then recycled, they produce recycled plastics that contain a stew of toxic chemicals.

3. New toxic chemicals created by the recycling process: When plastics are heated in the recycling process, this can generate new toxic chemicals that make their way into the recycled plastics. Studies have shown that benzene (a carcinogen) can be created by mechanical recycling of PET#1 plastic, even with very low rates of contamination by PVC#3 plastic, resulting in the cancer-causing chemical being found in recycled plastics.

“The plastics industry continues to put forward plastic recycling as the solution to the plastic pollution crisis. But this report shows that the toxicity of plastic actually increases with recycling,” said Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Campaign Lead at Greenpeace USA. “Plastics have no place in a circular economy and it’s clear that the only real solution to ending plastic pollution is to massively reduce plastic production.”

At the INC-2 meeting for the global plastic treaty taking place in Paris, the Greenpeace global network is advocating for an ambitious, legally binding agreement that accelerates a just transition away from a dependence on plastic materials and establishes global controls to regulate toxic chemicals in plastic.