ZEBULON, N.C.—The blank, beige building at 507 N. Industrial Drive, still emblazoned with the words “Braven Environmental,” looks benign from the street.
But on a recent weekend, an interior alarm beeped nonstop, piercing the midday quiet. Around back, past the side doors with a designated smoking area and a sign that read “Caution Respirators Required,” an acrid whiff of old oil wafted from several concrete pits.
Sharp metal parts jutted from barrels. Hunks of blackened machinery moldered nearby.
Braven Environmental, a New York-based company whose dozens of hazardous waste violations invited scrutiny by state and federal regulators, had hauled away most of its equipment.
The plant was once touted as an example of how chemical recycling could solve the plastic waste crisis. Now it’s the latest case in point for environmental advocates who say that converting plastic into chemicals and fuel through pyrolysis is no solution at all.
