Ontario's new plastics recycling plan is 'dangerous' and 'magical thinking,' critic warns

Environmentalists are warning there's no quick fix to the problem of plastic waste and they say they're worried that's exactly what the Doug Ford government is promising with its new recycling plan.

"The real solution is to reduce the amount of plastic that we're making," said Karen Wirsig, project manager for Environmental Defence, who describes the province's proposal as "magical thinking" and "dangerous."

"We can't simply pin all our hopes on some magical waste management technology that is totally unproven, expensive and polluting," she told CBC News Thursday in an interview.

The technology she's referring to is known as advanced recycling. It involves using chemicals and heat to break down non-recyclable plastic waste and convert it into fuel and other products. The Ontario government is in the process of crafting regulations for thermal treatment-based advanced recycling facilities that would exempt some projects from environmental assessments.

Critics say advanced recycling is experimental, potentially harmful, and requires more public oversight, not less. But proponents say the emerging technology will keep plastic products out of landfills and the government's plan will reduce unnecessary red tape in the approval process.

"Advanced recycling is a fundamental shift. It essentially takes the plastic back to its molecular origins, back to its raw materials," said Elena Mantagaris, vice president of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC).

Mantagaris says about 50 per cent of plastics can be recycled traditionally and often melted down. Advanced recycling targets the other half, she says.

As an example, she cites an increasingly common type of plastic food packaging that often has a zip seal and can stand upright. Mantagaris says this packaging uses different kinds of plastic in a single product. It can't be melted down but can be broken down using advanced recycling, she says.

"As an industry association, we do not want to see plastic end up in a landfill. That is material that's incredibly valuable and does not belong in the environment. It should be recirculated in the economy," she said.

The Toronto Environmental Alliance is also opposed to the Ford government's plans for advanced recycling plants.

"It's burning garbage," Emily Alfred, a waste campaigner with the organization, said in an interview.

But plastics companies say it's a more complex process with several ways of breaking down waste. According to CIAC, the heat used can come from microwaves, among other sources.

"It's not incineration," Mantagaris said.

According to Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, advanced recycling plants do not burn plastic.