Arizona governor signs advanced recycling bill

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed into law SB 1156, which will expand opportunities for advanced recycling in the state. The bill defines advanced recycling as a manufacturing process for the conversion of postuse polymers and recovered feedstocks into basic hydrocarbon raw materials, feedstocks, chemicals, monomers, oligomers, plastics, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and unfinished chemicals, crude oil, naphtha, liquid transportation fuels and coatings and other products such as waxes and lubricants through processes that include pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, reforming, hydrogenation, solvolysis and similar technologies. The bill states that advanced recycling “does not include solid waste management or processing, incineration or treatment.”

According to a news release from the Washington-based American Chemistry Council (ACC), Arizona is the 12th state since 2017 to adopt this type of advanced recycling legislation.

“Recognition of advanced recycling’s benefits is gaining momentum at the state level: Arizona is the 12 state since 2017 and the third in less than a month to adopt similar legislation,” says Joshua Baca, vice president of plastics at the ACC. “It joins Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Oklahoma in encouraging the growth of advanced recycling by helping ensure these technologies have a predictable and transparent regulatory framework for operation.”

Baca says SB 1156 will help Arizona to attract new recycling businesses and support job creation. He adds, “For example, converting just 25 percent of the recoverable plastics in the state into new products using advanced recycling could generate nearly $164 million in estimated economic output annually. Additionally, this law will help create new local demand for recycling programs and recycling centers that turn postuse plastics currently destined for landfills into valuable new materials.”

“Signing SB 1156 into law helps position Arizona as a leader in helping end plastic waste in our environment,” he concludes. “Advanced recycling allows us to recycle greater amounts of plastics using innovative technologies.”