H 7620Pollution & Waste

Health and Safety - Plastic Waste Conversion Facility Act

This bill bans the state from permitting new facilities that use heat or chemicals to convert plastic waste into fuel.

Held for study

Population
Affected

Introduced Feb 11, 2026Committee House Environment and Natural Resources

Plain-English Summary

This legislation prohibits the State of Rhode Island from issuing any permits or licenses for the construction or operation of new "plastic waste conversion facilities." The bill explicitly defines these facilities to include those using technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, and chemical recycling to convert plastic waste into fuel, chemicals, or other feedstocks. The legislation classifies these processes as waste disposal rather than manufacturing or recycling. The bill outlines findings suggesting these technologies pose health risks, release toxic pollutants, and are not economically viable without government subsidies.

For younger readers

This new law stops companies from building new factories in Rhode Island that melt or burn plastic trash to turn it into fuel or chemicals. The people who wrote the law believe these factories create dangerous pollution that can make people sick and harm the environment. They also believe that these factories do not work as well as companies say they do. Because of this, the government will not give permission for anyone to build these specific kinds of plastic factories in the state anymore.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Waste management companiesChemical and petrochemical corporationsEnvironmental advocacy groupsResidents near industrial zonesPlastic manufacturers

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost

None

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Protects environmental justice communities, which are disproportionately targeted for industrial siting, from potential exposure to toxic emissions and hazardous waste associated with chemical recycling.
Prevents the authorization of "greenwashing" technologies that rely on fossil fuels and often produce fuels rather than new recyclable plastics, ensuring the state focuses on genuine sustainability.
Safeguards public funds by preventing taxpayer subsidies and tax credits from being funneled to corporate plastic waste conversion projects that have a documented history of commercial failure.
Eliminates a potential avenue for managing difficult-to-recycle plastics, which may result in more plastic waste ending up in landfills or incinerators if mechanical recycling is insufficient.
Could stifle the development of future, cleaner technologies that might eventually solve the plastic crisis, by enacting a blanket ban on all forms of chemical conversion now.
May result in plastic waste being transported out of state for processing, increasing the carbon footprint associated with transportation emissions.

For Conservatives

Prevents the waste of taxpayer money on government subsidies and tax credits for an industry that the bill findings describe as having a record of commercial failure and defaults.
Protects existing property owners and communities from the potential negative impact on property values that could result from siting hazardous industrial facilities nearby.
Ensures that facilities cannot use regulatory reclassification to bypass standard waste disposal rules, maintaining a clearer rule of law regarding industrial zoning.
Imposes a strict government ban on an entire class of business and technology, severely restricting free enterprise and the ability of the market to innovate solutions for waste.
Denies private landowners and developers the right to use their property for industrial purposes that might otherwise meet safety standards, representing government overreach.
Signals an anti-business climate that may discourage other industries and investors from bringing jobs and capital to Rhode Island due to fear of preemptive bans.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 67 additions

SECTION 1. Findings.

(1) As stated in §§ 23-19-3(14) and (16), solid waste incineration releases more than four hundred (400) toxic pollutants including lead, mercury, dioxins, and acid gasses; poses unacceptable threats to the health and safety of Rhode Islanders and the environment; and is the most costly method of waste disposal;

(2) Facilities that use regulated technologies as defined by this chapter 19.20 of title 23, including thermochemical, chemical, electrical, or catalytic processes including, but not limited to, incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, hydropyrolysis, solvolysis, and depolymerization, release toxic air pollutants, generate hazardous solid and liquid waste, contaminated wastewater, and chemical byproducts containing carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, and persistent organic pollutants, and often function in practice as forms of waste disposal rather than material recovery;

(3) Energy derived from the combustion of solid waste, or from fuels, feedstocks, oils, gases, or chemicals derived from solid waste through regulated technologies, is not renewable energy and does not displace fossil fuel production or use;

(4) Plastic waste conversion facilities marketed as “chemical,” “advanced,” or “molecular” recycling have a documented record of commercial failure, prolonged pilot-scale operation, shutdowns, fires, mechanical failures, and defaults, and have not demonstrated the ability to operate at scale without ongoing public subsidy;

(5) Such facilities do not generally produce meaningful quantities of new plastic suitable for use in a circular materials economy, and instead primarily generate fuels, chemical intermediates, or waste streams;

(6) Public subsidies, tax credits, financing assistance, and regulatory reclassification of plastic waste conversion facilities shift financial risk from private developers to taxpayers while primarily benefiting petrochemical, plastics, and fossil-fuel corporations;

(7) Plastic waste conversion facilities are disproportionately sited in low-income communities and communities of color, exacerbating existing pollution burdens and posing environmental justice concerns due to increased exposure to toxic emissions, hazardous waste, and industrial accidents;

(8) The lack of transparency, weakened oversight, and reliance on unverifiable accounting and tracking systems, including mass-balance crediting schemes, in the plastic waste conversion sector increase the risk of fraud, abuse, environmental harm, and threats to public safety; and

(9) It is therefore in the best interests of the health, safety, environment, climate, and welfare of residents and visitors of Rhode Island to protect communities and natural resources by prohibiting the construction and operation of new plastic waste conversion facilities.

SECTION 2. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 23-19.20-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) "Construction and demolition (C&D) debris" has the same meaning as set forth in § 23- 18.9-7.

(2) "Depolymerization" means a process through which heat, pressure, and/or solvents are used to break plastic polymers into oligomers and/or monomers.

(3) "Hazardous waste" has the same meaning as set forth in § 23-19.1-4.

(4) “Plastic” means a synthetic or semi-synthetic material made from linking monomers derived from fossil fuel or biological sources through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain that can be molded, extruded, or otherwise shaped into pellets, objects, films, or filaments, whether alone or in combination with chemical additives including, but not limited to, plasticizers, stabilizers, colorants, or flame retardants.

(5) "Plastic waste conversion facility" means a facility which:

(i) Uses any disposal, treatment, recycling, or manufacturing process using regulated technologies as defined by this chapter, that subjects solid waste, segregated solid waste, recyclable materials, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, post-use polymers, or recovered feedstock to conditions sufficient to cause thermal cracking, depolymerization, chemical conversion, molecular rearrangement, or structural transformation of polymers, regardless of operating temperature; or

(ii) Combusts chemicals, feedstocks, fuels, monomers, oligomers, hydrocarbons, or waste residues derived from any process that subjects solid waste, segregated solid waste, recyclable materials, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, post-use polymers, or recovered feedstock to thermochemical, chemical, electrical, or catalytic conversion conditions that result from the use of regulated technologies, regardless of operating temperature or energy source.

(iii) "Plastic waste conversion facility" also includes advanced recycling facilities, chemical recycling facilities, molecular recycling facilities, and any other facility that uses a regulated technology as defined by this chapter, to convert post-use polymers, plastic, or recovered feedstock into fuels, chemical feedstocks, monomers, oligomers, hydrocarbons, waxes, lubricants, feedstocks, fuels, or hydrocarbons, regardless of how such facility or process is otherwise classified or marketed, or whether the process is characterized as low-temperature, non-thermal, or energy- efficient.

(6) "Post-use polymer" means a plastic polymer previously used in any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activity.

(7) "Recovered feedstock" means material derived and separated from solid waste, segregated solid waste, recyclable materials, or construction and demolition (C&D) debris for use as a feedstock or raw material in a plastic waste conversion facility using regulated technologies.

(8) "Recyclable materials" has the same meaning as set forth in § 23-18.9-7.

(9) “Regulated technologies” means:

(i) The use of plastic as a fuel or fuel substitute or the general use of plastic in energy generation or the creation of hazardous chemicals by any means in such processes including, but not limited to, incineration, waste-to-energy, or waste-to-fuel; and

(ii) The following processes:

(A) Gasification;

(B) Pyrolysis;

(D) Hydropyrolysis;

(E) Methanolysis;

(F) Enzymatic breakdown;

(G) Combustion;

(H) Flash graphene conversion;

(I) Radical anion attack or electron-driven depolymerization;

(J) Thermal desorption;

(K) Continuous microwave assisted pyrolysis;

(L) Flash joule heating; and

(M) Any other process used to transform plastic or plastic-derived materials including, but not limited to, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, or home heating oil; and

(iii) Regulated technologies are regulated based on the function and outcome of the process, not on operating temperature, energy input, or claimed efficiency.

(10) "Segregated solid waste" has the same meaning as set forth in § 23-18.9-7.

(11) "Solid waste" has the same meaning as set forth in § 23-18.9-7. 23-19.20-2. Prohibition on new plastic waste conversion facilities.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, no permit or license shall be issued for the construction or operation of a new plastic waste conversion facility, and no application for a permit or license for such a facility shall be granted or issued by the state.

(b) For purposes of this section, no plastic waste conversion facility shall be deemed manufacturing, materials recovery, or recycling based on the nature or intended use of its outputs.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.