TIME SENSITIVE ACTION ALERT. Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman is considering introducing a bill to promote false recycling in New York State.

The "Advanced Recycling" bill would promote chemical recycling technologies that mainly turn plastic into fuel to be burned. These technologies are very polluting, release large amounts of greenhouse gases, and can expose communities to toxic emissions, a threat to environmental justice. This is not recycling and would undermine New York's climate change and solid waste reduction goals.

Please make a critical phone call ASAP to Assemblymember Hyndman and urge her to not reintroduce this bill. Instead, she should work with the Assembly Environmental Committee Chair, Assemblymember Glick to introduce a strong packaging reduction bill similar to what has been introduced by Senator May (S.1064) and Senator Harckham (S.4246).

1. Dial Assemblymember Hyndman's Queens Office at 718-723-5412.

2. When someone answers, feel free to use your own words or follow this short script:

"Hi, my name is _YOUR NAME_ and I'm calling to urge Assemblymember Hyndman (hind-man) to not reintroduce the "Advanced Recycling" bill. I appreciate that she is concerned about the plastic waste crisis and environmental justice. However, chemical recycling is really false recycling. Instead of creating new plastics, it turns plastic waste into dirty fossil fuels to be burned. This false recycling solution creates climate change emissions and toxic pollution, threatening communities while using a great deal of energy. Instead, we hope she will work with Assemblymember Glick to pass a strong packaging reduction bill similar to senate bills 1064 and 4246, introduced by Senator May and Senator Harckham."

3. Once you've hung up, please take a moment to fill out the form on the right to let us know how your call went -- a very important step!

Background

In 2022, Assemblymember Hyndman and Senator Mannion introduced bills to promote chemical recycling that would weaken regulations for polluting chemical “recycling” facilities by exempting them from the state’s solid waste and recycling laws. If this bill were to pass, it would put the Legislature on record as supporting facilities that generate hazardous waste and air pollution that are often sited in environmental justice communities. It would also undermine the state’s waste reduction initiatives.

“Chemical recycling" technologies (which we refer to as false recycling) do not typically turn plastic waste into new plastic, but turn plastics into fossil fuels to be burned. This bill is very similar to a slew of bills championed by the chemical and plastics industry that promote false recycling and deregulate polluting facilities that have been introduced or passed in other states. Meanwhile, these expensive, polluting false recycling facilities have resulted in a series of significant failures which should serve as a cautionary tale for us. False recycling must not be welcomed in New York State.