Thomas Aiello, vice president of federal affairs at the National Taxpayers Union, said on May 20 that modernizing federal rules for advanced recycling could offer a low-cost way to help ease energy prices as Congress considers new recycled-content legislation.
In an opinion column published by Plastics News, Aiello said that while there is no single solution to rising energy costs, updating regulations around chemical recycling could extend the useful life of petroleum-based products and potentially ease pressure on fuel supplies.
“There’s no easy fix, but one overlooked solution is to modernize federal rules around advanced recycling, which can keep petroleum-derived products in use longer,” Aiello wrote. “Using less oil and gas for plastics frees them to be refined for other purposes like transportation or electricity generation. That could make a small but impactful difference when it comes to energy prices.”
Aiello’s comments come as lawmakers consider the Recycled Materials Attribution Act (H.R. 7502), which would establish federal standards for recycled-content marketing claims and direct the Federal Trade Commission to update its Green Guides.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Nick Langworthy and has bipartisan support from five Republican and five Democratic cosponsors, according to congressional records.
An analysis cited in coverage of the legislation found that a federal advanced-recycling bill could affect more than 38,000 manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania. It also noted that the state’s agriculture, aerospace and life sciences sectors rely on plastics for manufacturing and packaging, according to reporting by Keystone Today.
Aiello is vice president of federal affairs at the National Taxpayers Union, a nonprofit organization that advocates for lower taxes and limited government.
