Chemical Plastics Recycling Facility Granted Air Quality Permit For Kanawha Valley

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air Quality granted Clean-Seas West Virginia a construction permit Thursday for a recycling facility in Belle.  

The facility will use a high pressure, high temperature process known as pyrolysis to break used plastic down into various chemicals including components to create recycled plastic. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generated 35.7 million tons of plastic in 2018. Current estimates place U.S. recycling rates at only 5% to 6%, according to the World Economic Forum. 

Residents like Laura Wellstead are concerned about air pollution from the new facility, especially with a high school, elementary school and the community’s Wal-Mart just across the train tracks from the site. Critics of the pyrolysis process like the National Resources Defense Council, a national environmental advocacy group, have found that it releases carcinogens like benzene and dioxins and gives off more greenhouse gases than making plastic from crude oil. 

“There seems to be very little oversight, but they’ve got a lot of our taxpayer dollars already, and what they’re saying is it’ll bring something like 40 jobs,” Wellstead said. “We’re going to impact the health of all the children and all the people in this area for 40 jobs? It doesn’t make sense.”  

An analysis published by ProPublica found that up to 20% of the pyrolysis product can be reused for plastics manufacturing. The other 80% becomes diesel fuel, hydrogen, methane and other chemicals. 

“They’re not taking plastics and making them into garments or bags or something useful to people,” Wellstead said. “They’re making another polluting sort of liquid from the plastics that they’re bringing in from out of state.” 

It is unclear when Clean Seas plans for the Belle facility to be operational. In a press release from Clean Seas’ parent company Clean Vision Corporation on Friday, CEO Dan Bates said Belle would be the foundation of a U.S. network of plastic-conversion facilities. 

“This permit gives us the regulatory foundation to take the next step,” he said. “Our objective is not simply to operate one facility. Belle is intended to be the first U.S. hub in a broader plastic conversion network designed to turn difficult-to-recycle plastics into valuable products while creating industrial jobs and economic opportunity.”