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Plastic Recycling Plant Could Send Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals

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      April 24, 2023 12:34 AM MDT
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  • Warnings that a large-scale plastics recycling plant planned along a floodplain in Central Pennsylvania could flush toxic PFAS into the Susquehanna River, a major source of drinking water for millions, are stirring a budding opposition movement.Get more news about Plast Recycling Maskine,you can vist our website!

    The Houston-based startup company Encina, which proposes to build the $1.1 billion advanced recycling plant in Northumberland County, says it will not produce any of the synthetic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in its manufacturing process. The industry uses the term “advanced’’ to include recycling processes that convert plastic waste into chemical ingredients for new plastic products or fuel.

    But Graham F. Peaslee, a professor of physics at Notre Dame University who researches PFAS and plastic, said that PFAS would “absolutely” be a “serious issue” for a recycling operation that washes vast quantities of post-consumer plastic and discharges the wastewater into a river, as Encina plans to do. Some of that plastic waste would likely be coated in PFAS, he said, and some of them would escape from the plastic during the washing stage and get into the river.

    The result could be trouble for drinking water systems downstream from the proposed Encina plant, said Peaslee, a co-author of a recent study that detected PFAS in an entire class of commonly used plastic containers. “I suspect somewhere downstream, some utility will find that water is not a great source of drinking water,” he said.Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a large group of synthetic chemicals used in consumer products since around the 1950s. They keep food from sticking to packaging or cookware. They make carpeting and clothing stain-resistant, outdoor gear waterproof and dental floss slippery.

    They are known as forever chemicals because their carbon-fluorine bond at the atomic level is exceptionally strong: PFAS can remain in the human body and elsewhere in the environment for decades. The Environmental Protection Agency says there are thousands of different types with potentially varying effects and toxicity levels. Researchers have linked them to reduced liver and kidney function, cancer, birth defects and hormone disruption. Drinking water is considered a major pathway for human exposure.

    Encina, which unveiled the proposal a year ago, is navigating the permit process with local, state and regional officials. This is taking longer than the company had initially projected, and it now estimates that full operations will begin in late 2026, about two years later than originally planned.

    Regional economic development officials bought the 100-acre site in Point Township and have leased it to Encina, citing economic benefits from the company’s financial investment like providing 750 construction jobs and 300 full-time jobs at the plant.

      April 23, 2023 11:46 PM MDT
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