An environmental group announced March 21 it is suing the U.S. Department of Energy to force it to release records of communications with the plastics industry about a DOE research program to boost chemical recycling and other technologies to address plastics waste.
The Natural Resources Defense Council sued in federal court in New York City, saying that DOE has ignored NRDC open records requests for more than two years seeking information about a 2020 agreement between the American Chemistry Council and the agency over plastics recycling research.
The agreement between ACC and DOE is part of the department's Plastics Innovation Challenge, a 2019 effort DOE launched to make the U.S. "a world leader in advanced plastic recycling technologies," according to then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry, using an industry term to describe chemical recycling.
The DOE media office did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also seeks broader DOE communications with others outside the government about the innovation challenge and chemical recycling.
NRDC, which considers chemical recycling a polluting technology akin to incineration, said it was worried that the agreement with ACC "could enlist the DOE as a key partner in the effort to sell the industry's plastic vision."
"The department's failure to disclose responsive records prevents NRDC from understanding who influenced the Department's policies concerning the plastic crisis and the extent to which the department is coordinating with third parties, such as chemical and plastic industry associations on these issues," it said in the lawsuit.
The agency's Plastics Innovation Challenge has given out more than $40 million in grants to plastics companies and universities for research.
As well, a White House adviser said last year that DOE staff helped craft President Joe Biden's moonshot-type goal of displacing 90 percent of petrochemical plastics with bio-based feedstocks over 20 years.
NRDC said it first made a Freedom of Information Act request in 2021, but it said beyond the 2020 MOU and another memo in 2022, DOE has not released other information.