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EPA Drops Rules That Would Have Added Chemical Recycling Regulations

Federal officials are scrapping a set of proposed rules that one trade group said created a cloud of uncertainty and dampened interest in chemical recycling of plastics for the past two years. During the Joe Biden administration, in June 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection proposed a set of new regulations, officially called Significant New Use Rules (SNUR), under the Toxic Substances Control Act that would have further governed plastics that undergo chemical recycling.

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Chemical Recycling Sector Renews Push for Manufacturing Status Amid EPA Rule Changes

Chemical recycling supporters say they will continue to advocate for certain pyrolysis processes to be classified as manufacturing, not as a form of incineration or waste management. The industry’s renewed calls for reclassification come as the EPA on June 30 published its final rule on changes to air emissions standards for certain small solid waste incinerators.

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Fire Triggers Chemical Release at Houston’s Arkema Plant

A fire at one of Arkema's Houston-area chemical plants burned for about half an hour on Thursday morning, triggering a smelly chemical leak. The petrochemical company said that the blaze began at 7:45 a.m. and was put out by the plant's emergency responders.

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Inside Braskem’s Push to Scale Biopolymer Production for Packaging and More

The Brazilian chemical company’s recently opened $20 million research facility in Massachusetts is part of the company’s network of R&D sites and interest in alternatives to fossil-based plastics. Braskem is on a quest to expand its portfolio of biobased products. One of the next ingredients for that process at Brazil’s largest petrochemical company may come from an office park in suburban Massachusetts.

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UN Panel Rejects Bid to Classify Plastic Pellets as Dangerous

A United Nations subcommittee has rejected a proposal from Germany and the Netherlands to classify plastic pellets as dangerous goods in maritime transport. The U.N. Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods discussed the proposal during its 66th session, taking place in Geneva June 30-July 4. The proposal was rejected during the July 1 discussion.

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New Plasma-Electrolysis Process Produces Ammonia from Air

Researchers at the University of Sydney have developed a new method for synthesizing ammonia gas directly from air using electricity, eliminating the need for hydrogen feedstocks and reducing reliance on the Haber-Bosch process. The approach could offer the chemical industry a decentralized, lower-emission pathway for ammonia production, with potential applications in green energy, shipping fuels and hydrogen transport.

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TotalEnergies Expands Partnership with AES

TotalEnergies announces the closing of its acquisition of a 50% stake in the solar, wind and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) portfolio of AES Dominicana Renewables Energy.

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Mitsubishi Chemical Opens Japan’s Largest Chemical Recycling Plant

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. has completed construction of Japan’s largest chemical recycling facility. The Ibaraki plant has been under construction since July 2021 at the Kashima Complex, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Chemical and Eneos, a Japanese petroleum company.

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Dow Will Shut Down Three Upstream Assets in Response to Structural Challenges

Dow announced that, as a follow-up to the European asset actions first announced in April 2025, its Board of Directors has approved the shutdown of three upstream assets in Europe, in addition to certain corporate and other assets across the company's global asset footprint,

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Röhm Opens Texas MMA Feedstock Plant, Closes Louisiana Production

Röhm America LLC has closed a plant making acrylic feedstock methyl methacrylate (MMA) in Louisiana, but opened a plant making the same material in Texas.

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Chemical Safety Board to Facilities: Be Prepared for Hurricane Season

Chemical facilities should prepare now for hurricane season to “help prevent catastrophic chemical releases” and “ensure the safety of workers, emergency responders and surrounding communities,” the Chemical Safety Board says.

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Trump Administration Pulls Back on Plans to Rewrite Biden-Era Asbestos Ban

The Trump administration is dropping plans to allow continued use of the last type of asbestos legally allowed in U.S. manufacturing after an outcry from asbestos opponents. The Environmental Protection Agency said in a court filing Monday that it will now defend the Biden administration’s ban of chrysotile asbestos, which is used in products like brake blocks and sheet gaskets.

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Congressional Redistricting, Including in Houston, on Texas Governor’s Agenda for Special Legislative Session

Hemp regulation, property taxes and natural disaster preparation and response — in the wake of deadly flooding in Central Texas — also are among Greg Abbott’s priorities for the special legislative session that starts July 21. Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for a rare, mid-decade round of congressional redistricting as part of a packed agenda for the Texas Legislature's special session, set to begin July 21.

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ExxonMobil's Second Advanced Recycling Unit is Up and Running in Baytown

ExxonMobil's second advanced recycling unit is now operational in Baytown, Texas. The new unit doubles their advanced recycling capacity, and they've processed more than 100 million pounds of plastic waste in Baytown as of May 2025. Additional advanced recycling investments are under consideration for North America, Europe, and Asia.

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Rick Perry’s Fermi America Wants to Build a Giant Nuclear, Data Center Campus in Texas

Former Gov. Rick Perry is building a nuclear homage to President Donald Trump near Amarillo, he announced recently. Fermi America, a company Perry co-founded, has announced wildly ambitious plans to build what it says will be the United States’ largest nuclear power complex on 5,800 acres of land owned by Texas Tech University.

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Current Outlook of the Chemical Industry: Confused Sea State

Get your sea legs ready. The economy is getting choppy, according to Martha Gilchrist Moore, chief economist and managing director, economics and statistics at the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

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A Fight Over the Future of Recycling Brews as Plastics Legislation Gains Traction

Chemical companies, oil-and-gas incumbents and startups around the world are touting plans for new recycling facilities, promising to turn old bottles and bags into usable material. But policymakers are questioning whether some of these methods, broadly termed chemical or advanced recycling, should be considered recycling at all.

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Gut Microbes Could Offer Protection from Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’: Study

Certain types of microbes found in the human gut can absorb toxic “forever chemicals” from their surroundings, a new study has found.

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Trump’s First EPA Promised to Crack Down on Forever Chemicals. His Second EPA Is Pulling Back.

But now, the second Trump administration is pulling back. The EPA said in May that it will delay enforcement on the drinking water limits for PFOA and PFOS until 2031, and it will rescind and reconsider the limits on the other four. Among those who challenged the standards in court is Chemours, which has argued that the EPA, under Biden, “used flawed science and didn’t follow proper rulemaking procedures” for GenX.

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Trump Wants to Close the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

In January 2021, after a nitrogen leak at a poultry plant in Georgia killed 6 workers and injured scores more, federal investigators arrived at the scene. The team, from a small federal agency called the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, traced the fatal leak to a freezer part that had been bent out of shape. A series of recommendations to improve safety followed. Now, the White House is planning to eliminate the agency, allocating $0 for its budget starting in 2026. Even industry groups are opposed.

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Trump Administration, Reversing Itself, Won’t Rewrite a Ban on Asbestos

The Trump administration has withdrawn its plan to rewrite a ban on the last type of asbestos still used in the United States. The Biden-era ban was a victory for health advocates who had long fought to prohibit the carcinogenic mineral in all its forms. Last month the Trump administration said it planned to reconsider the asbestos ban, which would have delayed its implementation by several years. But late Monday, it withdrew that filing.

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EPA Ditches Proposed Reviews of Plastic-to-Fuel Chemicals

EPA won't move forward with a Biden-era proposal to review plastic-waste-derived feedstocks used to make fuel. In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the agency withdrew the June 2023 proposal that would have required fuels derived from plastics be free from 18 listed chemical contaminants before they're allowed to be used in transportation.

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Sustainable Chemistry ‘Inevitable’ Despite Pushback, Says Change Chemistry Executive Director

Sustainable chemistry is "inevitable" despite pushback, with only the pace at which it occurs a subject of debate, says the new executive director of multi-stakeholder organisation Change Chemistry.

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Does Packaging EPR Raise Consumer Prices?

It feels like packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws in the United States have hit a speed bump lately, with more politicians questioning whether they'll raise prices for food, beverages and other staples.

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