The Circular Economy: A discussion on plastics recycling with John Thayer of NOVA Chemicals

This episode originally aired on Hydrocarbon Processing’s podcast, The Main.

As featured in Hydrocarbon Processing magazine’s podcast, The Main Column, on September 13, 2024, John says, “When you think about what’s going to enable increased recycling, there’s a number of things. Chemical recycling and mechanical recycling are both going to play important roles in the future of reusing plastics. When we think about NOVA’s focus, we’re highly focused on building a brand-new recycling center in Connersville, Indiana to recycle polyethylene films. We believe mechanical recycling has some inherent advantages because it’s well known, it’s known technology, and there’s an opportunity to recapture and reuse material at a lower overall cost and a lower overall environmental footprint.  

Chemical recycling has a really important role to play because it’s going to be able to help us with some of those “dirtier” plastics, those that may have contamination, where we’ll be able to take those molecules and reuse them as virgin polyethylene again. It’s critical that we have both pathways available. When we think about the needs for society, they really are being driven by how people don’t want to see their materials going to landfill, they don’t want to see materials end up as litter, and they want something they can use. Plastics do so much for so little product. If you take those products and use them again, it highlights the benefits of plastics as a packaging format.” 

Listen to the full episode here on Hydrocarbon Processing’s podcast, The Main Column. 

John Thayer is the senior vice president of sales and marketing for NOVA Chemicals. In this role, he drives market leadership and sales strategies for NOVA’s Polyethylene and Ethylene businesses and owns NOVA’s enterprise-wide customer-centric strategy and initiatives.