How will IRG benefit the environment?

Recycling plastic has a multitude of environmental benefits, and IRG will be providing the infrastructure to do so at unprecedented scale and efficiency.

Some benefits of recycling plastic include: reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills, incinerators, oceans, and other ecosystems. It also conserves resources and reduces the pollution and, specifically, the carbon footprint associated with creating virgin plastic by offsetting its production. On top of that, the use of IRG’s iron reducing agent, CleanRed, lowers the carbon footprint of steel production.

Doesn’t recycling just promote the use of more plastics?

It does not. Unfortunately, experts project that plastic production will not be ceasing within the foreseeable future, so improving our plastic recycling infrastructure is a proven and necessary component of the multi-pronged approach needed in mitigating its environmental impact, which also includes reducing our consumption of single use plastics and finding sustainable alternatives wherever possible.

Do IRG’s facilities create pollution or pose any risks to their surrounding neighborhoods?

IRG’s facilities pose no health risks to their surrounding areas and all permitting must be in compliance with PA’s Dept. of Environmental Protection.

As part of the LPO loan guarantee approval process, LPO will prepare an Environmental Assessment pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EA will assess the potential environmental effects associated with the construction, start-up, and operation of both the source separated post-consumer plastic recycling facility in Erie, Pennsylvania and the CleanRed™ injection tower at the steelmakers sites. [The EA will be posted on LPO’s website (ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS | Department of Energy) for a 30-day public review period.]

While all industrial, commercial and agricultural activity emits some levels of particulate matter to the air or water in the vicinity of the activity, as a mechanical recycler, IRG will emit levels of particulate matter that are consistent with light manufacturing, and nothing at all like heavy industry, or refineries, chemical plants or the like. In addition, the CleanRed material being sent to steel mills to replace coal will emit lower emissions in every particulate category than the coal it replaces.

Should residents be concerned about noise or smell coming from the plant?

No, there will be none. Our materials are not open unsorted waste, everything will be enclosed. Neighbors can expect no smell or noise, and the facility will look and sound like a warehouse from the outside.

Are there environmental risks associated with the use of CleanRed in steel production? Is this plastic incineration?

No, this is not plastic incineration. Burning, such as at an incinerator, creates heat as a part of the process. In contrast, CleanRed acts as a flame temperature depressant in the furnace raceway. 

Our CleanRed material is injected into the blast furnace tuyere raceway and does not burn at all. At the elevated temperatures (3600-3800F) in the blast furnace raceway, the material “volatilizes” immediately into its chemical components and becomes a portion of the reducing gas. At these elevated temperatures, the oxygen molecule attached to the iron molecule has a higher affinity for the carbon molecules that exist after the volatilization that occurs to the CleanRed, and becomes a portion of the reducing gas in the furnace shaft. The fact that some portion of the CleanRed is Hydrogen also contributes to the lower carbon intensity of this material. 

There are zero risks associated with this process. Blast furnaces are tightly regulated through the U.S. Clean Air Act and each furnace is “titled” to operate by permit, usually overseen by a state regulatory authority. Any proposed modifications to a blast furnace’s operations must be reviewed and issued a new permit. Introducing a new fuel source to the blast furnace, such as plastic, would be considered a “major modification” to the existing operation, requiring a detailed permitting process that includes a public comment period.

How will truck traffic be increased? Will these be dump trucks going through city streets with garbage in them?

We will be using closed common carriers, not dump trucks. Our delivery schedule will consist of 40 common carrier trucks per day, or 2 an hour over a 24-hour shift.

Does your process lead to microplastics in the city’s air or water?

There will be no microplastics released due to advanced air scrubbing equipment and a closed loop water filtration system. All systems are sealed and will comply with all Pennsylvania DEP standards for emissions of particulate matter.