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ARTICLE · 30 JULY 2025

Regulation Of Advanced Recycling Is At A Crossroad

Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.
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Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dealt two substantial blows to efforts to turn waste plastics into useful products through advanced recycling techniques such as pyrolysis.

United StatesEnvironment
Mark N. Duvall
Mark N. Duvall
Benjamin L. Champion
Benjamin L. Champion
Chloe Heller (2025 Summer Associate)
Chloe Heller (2025 Summer Associate)

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dealt two substantial blows to efforts to turn waste plastics into useful products through advanced recycling techniques such as pyrolysis. Now, the Trump EPA has the opportunity to change direction. EPA has taken a first step under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but it has also declined to take a step forward under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Meanwhile, an increasing number of states are removing a roadblock to advanced recycling by declaring it manufacturing rather than waste disposal.

The Toxic Substances Control Act

The Roadblock – Risks of Potential Contaminants

The chemical composition of waste plastics changes when exposed to high heat in the absence of oxygen. The resulting pyrolysis products are typically considered to be new chemical substances. Companies have submitted numerous premanufacture notices (PMNs) to EPA for products named "plastics, wastes,

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