Can US Plastic Recycling Survive? NOVA Says Yes

NOVA Chemicals launches new recycled PE grades from its Indiana film plant, nearing 100M lb annual capacity

30 Apr 2026

NOVA Chemicals has begun selling two new recycled polyethylene grades from its SYNDIGO1 plant in Connersville, Indiana, marking a significant step toward industrial-scale film-to-film recycling in the United States.

The grades, rPE-IN3 and rPE-IN4, are made entirely from post-consumer plastic film gathered at retail stores and distribution centres. They are designed for non-food packaging uses including bin liners, carry-out bags, shrink wrap, and heavy-duty sacks.

A food-contact grade is in the pipeline.

NOVA says it expects to follow later in 2026 with a recycled low-linear-density polyethylene product cleared for food packaging, supported by a first-of-its-kind approval from the US Food and Drug Administration confirming the plant's output meets food safety standards.

The Connersville facility, run in partnership with packaging company Novolex, covers 450,000 square feet. It is on course to process more than 100mn pounds of recycled polyethylene by the end of this year, consuming roughly 145,000 bales of post-consumer film annually. The plant ranks among the largest operations of its kind in North America.

The launch arrives at a difficult moment for domestic recyclers. Seven of thirty major US facilities for recycling PET, a widely used plastic, have closed in the past year, removing more than a quarter of national processing capacity. Cheaper imports have added to the pressure on remaining operators. NOVA's expanded output offers brand owners and packaging converters a domestic, traceable source of recycled content at meaningful volume.

Policy conditions are shifting in favour of the sector. Seven US states have active extended producer responsibility programmes for packaging, which make manufacturers financially responsible for the end-of-life costs of their products. Several compliance deadlines fall in 2026. As mandatory recycled content requirements tighten, demand for domestically produced recycled polyethylene is expected to grow.

The timing and extent of that growth will depend in part on how quickly regulators in remaining states adopt similar frameworks, and whether import competition eases.