For those of you who have been following our blog, we write a lot about how the fossil fuel industry attempts to greenwash their products to trap communities into a future surrounded by fossil fuels. This push is coming to Virginia in the form of chemical conversion facilities, referred to by the fossil fuel industry as “chemical recycling” or “advanced recycling”. This is a greenwashed way of saying they are going to melt plastic which will then be burned for dirty energy or to make more plastics. Most of these technologies are still in the lab or pilot phase and none have demonstrated they are environmentally safe or economically sustainable, but Virginia is close to deciding they want to lock Virginia into a fossil fuel future. 

Right now, the  House is debating HB 2173, which would change the definition of “advanced recycling” (chemical conversion) from solid waste management to manufacturing. This bill has a companion in the senate (SB 1164) waiting to be heard in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources committee and while we’re not exactly sure when this bill will be heard, you can preemptively let your senator know how much you hate it! They thought they could sneak this through by making it a simple semantics issue–a change of definition that seems so green!

HB 2173 and SB 1164 are backed by the largest polluting petrochemical companies in the world- Exxon, Shell, Dow, BASF- to create facilities that will introduce a new stream of toxic waste into Virginia. It would enable harmful, polluting facilities to get a toe-hold in Virginia with the most severe impacts placed on the most vulnerable populations in low income counties. Chemical Conversion is not economically or environmentally sustainable and this bill is being used to kill HB1902 to ban expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and beverage containers. The solution to the plastic pollution crisis is reducing waste at its source, not dangerous downstream approaches.

HB 2173 and SB 1164 would exempt chemical conversion facilities from the Virginia Waste Management Act, which means they would not need to apply for a solid waste permit, streamlining their construction. This means that while it takes some doing to put say, a landfill, in your neighborhood, it would be a heck of a lot easier to put THIS in your neighborhood and this is a lot more dangerous to your health! 

Here is how you can help stop this today!

Contact YOUR elected delegate today, this weekend- whenever you can, contact them in multiple ways- call, email, Twitter, and Facebook- before we turn Virginia into a series of cancer clusters. This bill made it through the subcommittee and committee in one day and has already had two readings on the floor. The Monday (1/25) session is our chance to have this bill removed from consideration. There are opposition talking points attached here. Use these talking points to create your individualized message. There’s a sample email and couple sample Tweets at the bottom of this blog.

Virginia Grassroots provides access to an excellent spreadsheet with all the contact information for Virginia’s elected officials. Follow this link to get their email address, phone number, Twitter handle, and Facebook page information. 

Because this bill has been pushed through with the backing of the most powerful and polluting petrochemical companies in the world, we’ve been left with serious questions that are yet to be answered. These are great questions to ask you elected officials!

1. What does this definitional change do? And why is it necessary? Will this change enable chemical conversion facilities more access to economic development grants and reduce their environmental oversights?
2. What makes this different from other chemical processing plants?
3. Why is it needed if chemical conversion is already here? There is a chemical conversion facility being built in Cumberland County.
4. The company that owns the facility in Cumberland county has a contract for 20 years with an international packaging company therefore shipping plastics into Virginia to be chemically converted here. When will this facility ever accept household plastics? How does this help keep plastics out of Virginia’s environment?
5. Would these facilities be mandated to use plastic waste from Virginia?
6. Will this bill wipe out the hard fought HB1902 which will ban the use of expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and beverage containers? The American Chemistry Council appears to think that is the case.
7. Why would Virginia want to create new petrochemical fuel sources after passing the Virginia Clean Economy Act?

Chemical conversion is a polluting and carbon intensive process that is riddled with system failures and will make the plastic pollution and climate crisis worse. About 50% of the carbon content of waste plastics is typically lost as greenhouse gases during chemical conversion. 79% of waste to energy facilities (another term for plastic to fuel) are located in low-income and communities of color. These facilities expose residents to harmful particulates that cause cancer, respiratory illnesses, and neurological disorders.

Now we are down to the wire at the General Assembly with two bills that could seriously damage Virginia’s air and water quality, skirt regulatory and permit requirements for a chemical plant (because make no bones about it–that is what this is) with this seemingly innocuous definition bill with the word “recycling” in it. If this bill passes there is a real danger to have five more chemical conversion facilities built in Virginia.

Here are sample Tweets

“Please vote no on HB 2173, don’t sell Virginia’s future to the petrochemical industry. Protect vulnerable communities!”

“Would you put a chemical burning plant in Mosaic District? Then vote no on HB 2173 which is a sneaky way of allowing this sort of thing with minimal permitting”

Here is a sample email

“Good afternoon XXXX,

I am your constituent at (insert address). I am very concerned to see HB 2173 moving through the General Assembly with such ease. Virginians have worked extremely hard to ensure our future is not intertwined with fossil fuels. Enabling fossil fuel facilities to expand in Virginia is not only a danger to our air and water quality, fossil fuel facilities around the country disproportionately impact the most vulnerable communities”