chemical recycling Youngstown
Youngstown has a long industrial history and is still home to numerous sources of industrial pollution, including a steel plant and other metal fabricators, a concrete plant, and a hazardous waste processing facility. (Credit: Kristina Marusic for EHN)

Listen: Why communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are fighting chemical recycling plants

EHN reporter Kristina Marusic discusses her new three-part series on the controversies surrounding chemical recycling.

PITTSBURGH — EHN reporter Kristina Marusic recently spoke with The Allegheny Front about three communities in the Ohio River Valley that are fighting proposed chemical recycling plants.


Chemical recycling is an umbrella term for processes that use heat, chemicals or both to break down plastic waste into component parts for reuse as plastic feedstocks or as fuel. The industry says chemical recycling could help solve the plastic waste crisis, but some environmental health advocates say chemical recycling facilities worsen climate change and emit toxic chemicals.

Marusic recently wrote about community fights to stop proposed advanced recycling facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Listen to her interview with The Allegheny Front below.

Red and white striped power plant smokestacks with billowing smoke emitting from the top

Trump’s coal revival keeps Michigan plant open at high cost to residents

Critics say the move to prop up aging coal facilities could lead to dozens of premature deaths annually while shifting financial burdens onto ratepayers.

A red kayak with a person in it paddling past ice bergs

Meet the Inuit scientist kayaking around Greenland to highlight just how far microplastics travel

One scientist is on a mission to reveal the far-reaching spread of microplastics after kayaking around a remote glacier in Greenland.
A cow staring at the camera with yellow tags in its ears

A new electronic nose’ measures methane ... on the cow

Most existing sensors struggle to isolate methane in the very noisy chemical landscape of a cattle farm. This new invention may change that.
Children at a climate protest

Federal climate rollback raises new risks for Wisconsin’s energy future

The EPA's climate rollback comes just as Wisconsin communities, farms and businesses invest in clean energy and resilient infrastructure.
Pittsburgh city skyline with the Allegheny River in the foreground

Pennsylvania spent big on a 'petrochemical renaissance.' It never arrived

Visions of a booming hub that would bring jobs and prosperity to Appalachia faded, but the plastic “nurdles” remain.
A heat pump attached to the side of a house

Heat pump sales dipped in 2025. They still beat gas…

Yet again, heat pumps were the most-shipped heating appliance in the U.S. And experts say the factors behind last year’s sales slide are temporary.
A chain of islands uninhabited in Tha Atoll Maldives. Green islands against turqoise sea.

US takes aim at UN climate proposal

The Trump administration is urging other nations to press a tiny Pacific island country to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting strong action to prevent climate change, including reparations for damage caused by any nation that fails to take action.

From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.