Celebrating Plastics Progress on Earth Day 2024

Celebrating Earth Day with Advanced Recycling in Half the Country 

Advanced recycling helps increase the types and amount of plastics that can be recycled by turning plastic waste into liquid and gas materials that can then be remade into new plastic products. More than 40 projects to implement advanced recycling have been created, all diverting almost 21 billion pounds of waste from landfills per year.   

America’s Plastic Makers® have set an ambitious goal for 100% of U.S plastic packaging to be reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040. A 2021 report by Closed Loop Partners estimated that advanced recycling could double the plastics packaging recycling rate in the U.S. and Canada by 2030.   

Here are the some of the states that are using advanced recycling to help support these goals:   

West Virgina   

West Virgina’s Governor James Justice signed H.B. 4084 into law, helping enable a new way to recycle more plastics. The bill was passed unanimously by both legislative bodies in West Virginia.   

Kentucky   

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) signed into law bipartisan legislation establishing that advanced recycling operations are properly regulated as manufacturing facilities.   

New Hampshire   

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed S.B. 367 into law, which helped create a more circular economy for plastics while attracting new jobs to the state.   

Missouri   

Governor Mike Parson signed H.B. 2485 into law, which as he said, “helps reduce plastic waste and allows more used plastic to become valuable new products”.   

Michigan   

In 2022, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed bipartisan legislation to enable advanced recycling in the state.   

Indiana   

Indiana passed bipartisan SB 472 which, as of 2023, has the potential to generate more than $200 million for Indiana and almost 900 jobs.   

Utah  

In March 2023, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed H.B. 493 into law. The bill, which was passed with a bipartisan vote, created investments in advanced recycling and sustainability by providing regulatory certainty.   

Kansas  

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) signed into law bipartisan legislation establishing that advanced recycling operations are properly regulated as manufacturing facilities.

Wyoming  

Most recently, Wyoming became the 25th state to adopt legislation ensuring that advanced recycling facilities are transparently and properly regulated as manufacturing operations.  

Arizona   

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed SB 1156 into law in 2021 to improve advanced recycling in the state and help end plastic waste in the environment.   

Texas  

Texas signed HB 1952 into law to promote advanced recycling efforts and attract new business and job creation.   

Louisiana  

In 2021, Louisiana became the 14th state to sign advanced recycling into law after a unanimous bipartisan vote.   

Oklahoma  

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed SB 448 into legislation to modernize state recycling technologies. The Environmental Federation of Oklahoma was one of the main supporters of the bill.  

Iowa  

Iowa passed SF 534 to support advanced recycling facilities, converting 25 percent of the state’s plastics therefor creating the potential for $309 million economic output annually.   

Arkansas  

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed HB 1944 into law in 2021 to create new recycling programs on the local level and keep plastics out of landfills.   

Mississippi  

Mississippi’s Governor Tate Reeves signed H.B. 1135 into law, helping to increase plastics recycling and create new economic opportunities in the state.   

Illinois  

In 2019, Illinois passed HB 2491 which estimated that converting the state’s post-use plastics into transportation fuel could power 440,000 cars each year.   

Tennessee  

The Tennessee House and Senate passed SB 0923 in favor of advanced recycling to convert postconsumer plastics into valuable raw materials.   

Other states that have passed in the advanced recycling into law are Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These states are helping remove valuable plastics from landfills and convert them into raw materials that will produce useful, economical products.