US Department of Energy Report Shows Massive Potential Energy Savings Potential Through Plastic Recycling
IRG Founder Comments on Opportunity to Contribute to CO2 Reduction
Erie, PA (May 13, 2022) — The Pennsylvania Department of Energy (DoE) recently released a new report showing the potential value of landfilled plastic waste from energy savings resulting from more investment in recycling. The DoE calculated that the total energy embedded in plastics put into landfills year in and year out is equal to 12% of the energy used by America’s entire industrial base — an enormous potential energy savings by replacing the production of new plastic with recycled plastic.
The DoE also reported that another US agency, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has probably underestimated the amount of plastics going to landfills each year by about 5.7 million tons, with DoE’s estimate equal to 228 pounds of plastic from every American being dumped in landfills each year. DoE also states the EPA probably overestimated the percentage of material that is being recycled, and lowered that estimate from just under 9% to 5%.
In a section of the report entitled, “Pathways for Diverting Waste from Landfills”, DoE suggests that the problem of low recycling rates can be addressed by development of new end markets for a wider variety of materials—especially for film packaging and complex resin material, such as polypropylene—and greater investment in current and emerging technologies to more easily separate post-use plastics from other waste.
“This report underscores the importance of plastic recycling,” commented Mitch Hecht, Founder and Chairman of International Recycling Group of Erie, Pa. “It not only saves massive amounts of energy from plastic production, which is a major source of greenhouse gases above and beyond the drilling for fossil fuels required to make the plastics, but it reduces the risk of material leaking into the environment.
“Our investment in a hyper-scale sorting and processing facility in Erie is directly in line with the recommendation highlighted by DoE. And our sister company, newBin, was conceived to help collect more material from households and commercial venues.
“Plastic isn’t going away,” Hecht continues. “If we don’t invest in and support a major effort in recycling, it will only lead to more plastic littering our landfills, our oceans, and parks.”
The country’s first SuperPRF™ (“PRF” = Plastics Recovery Facility) will revolutionize the recycling of plastics by accepting all forms of post-use plastics, including cups, lids, tubs, single-use plastics, drink containers, and milk cartons from residential and commercial sources. Right now, almost two-thirds of the plastic Erie households generate are not accepted for recycling. IRG, with its sister company, newBin, promise to ensure not a pound of plastic goes into landfill or the environment.
To learn more about IRG and join the #RecyclingRevolution, visit https://www.InternationalRecycling.com/.
About International Recycling Group (IRG)
International Recycling Group (IRG) is designing the country’s largest plastics recycling plant to process all types and grades of plastic scrap. In the United States, according to EPA estimates, less than 9% of all plastics that enter the municipal solid waste ("MSW") stream are recycled. Combined with plastic scrap generated by industrial and commercial industries, we estimate that over 50 million tons annually of plastic scrap are destined for landfills. Plastic scrap has considerable potential to be repurposed and IRG plans to efficiently utilize this untapped resource. Located on the US Great Lakes, IRG’s new “SuperPRF” will be able to accept ALL types of plastic—not just bottles (the “#1s and #2s”). Thus, “single streaming,” or combining all plastics into a recycling bin or cart for pickup, will now be economically viable.