Hot tickets and hollow promises

The report evaluates three primary responses to the plastics crisis: chemical recycling, separate collection, and reuse/refill. It concludes that chemical recycling is technically and financially unviable, often serving as a 'smokescreen' for the petrochemical industry. In contrast, it identifies high growth potential in separate collection infrastructure, specifically reverse vending machines (RVMs), and long-term equity opportunities in refillable packaging systems, both of which are being driven by increasing global regulation and consumer pressure.

• Chemical recycling is characterized as a high-risk investment due to technical and financial unviability, with many projects failing to achieve commercial-scale plastic-to-plastic (P2P) recycling.
• Much of the chemical recycling process in practice is 'plastic-to-fuel' (P2F), which releases fossil carbon into the atmosphere and is considered environmentally comparable to incineration.
• Chemical recycling processes, specifically pyrolysis and gasification, fail to filter out toxic contaminants like BPA and phthalates and can produce additional toxic compounds such as hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde.
• The market for reverse vending machines (RVMs) is projected to grow significantly, from 84,100 installed machines in 2019 to a potential of 705,257 by 2029.
• Deposit-return systems (DRS) are identified as the most effective way to achieve beverage container return rates of 90% or more and provide the necessary infrastructure for scaling reuse and refill models.
• Reuse and refill models represent a significant economic opportunity, with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimating a value of $10 billion if 20% of single-use plastics are replaced by refillable alternatives.
• Regulatory trends are shifting toward more comprehensive and binding policies, including the EU's Single-Use Plastics Directive and various national taxes on non-recycled plastic packaging.
• The petrochemical industry's continued investment in new plastic production capacity creates a high risk of stranded assets as global decarbonization and plastic-reduction mandates increase.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2021). Hot tickets and hollow promises. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HotTickets_Full.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Hot tickets and hollow promises. 2021. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HotTickets_Full.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Hot tickets and hollow promises |date=September 2021 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HotTickets_Full.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2021hot, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Hot tickets and hollow promises}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HotTickets_Full.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }