Public radio’s longest-running daily global news program.AboutContactDonateMeet the TeamPrivacyTerms of use©2026 The World from PRXPRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402.Is chemical recycling the solution to plastic waste?DW investigative environmental journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor look into the idea of using chemical recycling to deal with the problem of Europe’s plastic waste. DWApril 29, 2026Updated: April 29, 202617:14In this file photo, plastic waste runs on conveyor belts at a new plastic waste sorting facility in Motala, central Sweden, Nov. 9, 2023.The problem of plastic waste is not going anywhere. In fact, globally, we continue to generate more of it.In the EU, plastic packaging waste alone makes up about 16 million tons a year — and only less than half of that is recycled. But across Europe, new recycling plants have been popping up, promising to recycle hundreds of thousands of tons of the particularly-hard-to-recycle material using a technology called chemical — or “advanced” — recycling.From our partners at Deutsche Welle, DW, investigative environmental journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor look into the idea.Click on the player to hear the full story.