Cookie Control

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer.

Some cookies on this site are essential, and the site won't work as expected without them. These cookies are set when you submit a form, login or interact with the site by doing something that goes beyond clicking on simple links.

We also use some non-essential cookies to anonymously track visitors or enhance your experience of the site. If you're not happy with this, we won't set these cookies but some nice features of the site may be unavailable.

By using our site you accept the terms of our Privacy Policy.

(One cookie will be set to store your preference)
(Ticking this sets a cookie to hide this popup if you then hit close. This will not store any personal information)

Does N.C. Need Another Polluting Plant to Turn Plastic Waste Into Diesel?

"Buffeted by PFAS-emitting industries, Fayetteville could soon be home to a financially troubled company that wants to turn tons of plastic waste into diesel fuel using a polluting, energy-intensive process called pyrolysis."

"The company tried educational chatbots and cryptocurrency. Then nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, of movies and cars. Even a service to Catholic churches allowing them to manage their finances using blockchain instead of banks.

None of it succeeded. Now, the firm with a troubled financial history has suddenly changed its plans to convert roughly 7,000 tons of plastic each year into ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in a low-income neighborhood in Fayetteville where more than 70 percent of 731 residents in the census block group are minorities, and 38 percent are low-income, according to state data.

The facility would have been just 900 feet from Blounts Creek, a tributary to the Cape Fear River.

Waste Energy Corp. had intended to operate a furnace used in a high-temperature, no-oxygen process called pyrolysis there in an 18,000-square-foot warehouse near Sam Cameron Avenue and Cool Spring Street, converting the plastic waste to ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel."

Lisa Sorg reports for Inside Climate News March 1, 2025.

Source: Inside Climate News, 03/05/2025