(August 20, 2025) The fight to preserve Pennsylvanians’ right to clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment won another huge victory this week as Alterra Energy announced it had ended plans to open a facility in Sugarloaf Township.
Alterra was hoping to open a “chemical recycling” facility in this rural area of Luzerne County. Despite dubbing its work “recycling,” however, Alterra’s rebranding of outdated trash incineration is no solution for the climate crisis. The plant would have been conducting plastic pyrolysis, a way of cutting chemical bonds with heat powered by burning fossil fuels. The “recycled” plastic this method produces is actually mostly made of new fossil fuel-derived materials and is, at most, 10% recycled material.
Its byproducts are even worse: toxic chemicals that are linked to health problems like cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, nervous system issues, reproductive problems, and respiratory issues. This facility, which would have operated around the clock, would have produced chemical pollution in the air and water, and would have generated plastic waste that includes the worst of the worst pollutants: known carcinogen benzene, dioxins, PFAS “forever chemicals,” and volatile organic compounds or VOCs.
Not only would facility employees have been exposed to plastic dust and chemical vapors on the job, but they would also be at risk of dangerous fires. Toxic and very flammable synthetic oil would have been stored in two 185,000-gallon tanks on the property before being transported in trucks and rail cars. On top of these hazards, such a plant would have been a nuisance to the residents of Sugarloaf, bringing traffic, noise, light, and air pollution, and damaging rural roads.
Members of the Luzerne County Community Coalition were vocal in their opposition to this proposed site and are celebrating this news. Local residents collaborated in their organizing with neighbors from nearby Northumberland County who just last year stood strong against a similar proposal for their area from Texas-based company Encina. Sugarloaf even had support from a resident of Akron, Ohio, where Alterra has been operating an incineration plant whose permit renewal was loudly opposed by the community this summer.
Clean Air Council and its partners – including Beyond Plastics, Save Our Susquehanna, Moms Clean Air Force, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, and Environmental Health Project – were proud to support the Luzerne community as they sought to understand the potential harms of Alterra’s proposed facility and the influence they might wield. The Council commends this level of passion and commitment to a healthy environment and hopes to see this type of collaboration continue throughout the Commonwealth.
So-Called ‘Chemical Recycling’ Facility No Longer Planned for Pennsylvania Town Following Opposition From Local Leaders
SUGARLOAF, Pennsylvania (August 12, 2025) — Alterra Energy has withdrawn its proposal for a plastic pyrolysis facility in Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania, sparking relief from community members. Obtained from a public records request, a letter from Alterra Energy to the Sugarloaf Township Board of Supervisors officially withdrew the company’s proposal for a so-called “chemical recycling” facility.
The project, which would have trucked in substantial amounts of plastic trash for high-heat processing, faced strong opposition from local residents, environmental advocates, and township leaders concerned about air emissions, hazardous waste, traffic impacts, and potential harms to public health. The proposal for Sugarloaf claimed to recycle plastic; however, pyrolysis historically produces dirty fuels and is known to generate toxic byproducts.
“The people of Sugarloaf and surrounding areas are elated that Alterra energy has officially decided to withdraw their state DEP permit for their proposed plastic facility from 42 Tomhicken Road. This is a big win for our area,” said Annie Vinatieri, a local community leader and member of Luzerne County Community Action Coalition. “The people have spoken and our voices have been heard. We will continue to fight for clean air, water and a safer, healthier future for Luzerne County.”
“”I am thankful to all who helped in and supported us with this effort to protect our precious environment,” said Lisa Logan, a local community leader and member of Luzerne County Community Action Coalition. “We are so blessed in many ways!”
“I was concerned about the dangers for environmental and public health seemingly inherent to this type of chemical recycling technology,” said Jan E. Long, lifelong and multigenerational resident of Luzerne County. “I am all for fair, non-subsidized and clean economic development in the area, but will not support a business that has the potential to create a system for the continued production of more plastic waste.”
“This local effort in Sugarloaf is proof that communities can reject false solutions and fight for the sustainable, waste-free future we deserve. These companies sometimes look for new locations after abandoning site proposals, so it’s important that other Pennsylvania towns are prepared to fight these proposals when they show up in other places,” said Jess Conard, Beyond Plastics’ Appalachia director. “So-called ‘chemical recycling’ is nothing more than greenwashing for the plastics industry. It doesn’t solve the plastic waste problem; it just turns plastic trash into toxic emissions and fuels we don’t need.”
“This was community led from start to finish. We welcome the swift withdrawal of this dangerous project. Plastic is toxic at every stage of its life cycle, from fossil fuel extraction to disposal,” said Josephine Gingerich, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania’s health advocacy outreach coordinator. “Plastic pyrolysis unleashes a cocktail of harmful chemicals linked to cancer, respiratory disease, and other severe health problems. Our communities deserve strategies that truly protect health, safeguard the environment, and put people — not polluters — first.”
“We are thrilled to hear that Alterra will not build their proposed toxic plastics-to-fuel plant in Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania,” said Sandy Field, chair of Save Our Susquehanna. “This is a huge win for this small community! The Save Our Susquehanna group advocates for development that does not pollute communities and provides good paying jobs that do not harm workers. Chemical recycling of plastics is not the answer to the plastics crisis.”
“The withdrawal of Alterra’s chemical recycling proposal represents a significant win for the health and well-being of the Sugarloaf community,” said Talor Musil, Environmental Health Project’s field manager. “This decision will prevent the release of toxic air pollutants and the health harms associated with exposure to those pollutants. EHP applauds community members living near this proposed site for successfully raising awareness of the risks posed by petrochemical development.”
“Moms Clean Air Force celebrates with the people of Sugarloaf who will not be subjected to health-harming pollution. Chemical recycling, also known as advanced recycling, is neither advanced nor recycling,” said Rachel Meyer, Mom’s Clean Air Force’s Ohio River Valley field organizer. “It transforms plastics chemicals such as PFAS, heavy metals, and phthalates into toxic air pollutants that our families breathe, putting us at increased risk for cancer and respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases. Congratulations to all the community members who spoke up for their children’s health to end this deception.”
“The withdrawal of Alterra’s toxic plant is a great victory for the Sugarloaf community,” said Alex Bomstein, Clean Air Council’s executive director. “This dangerous technology, deceptively branded as chemical recycling, emits toxic pollution that poisons our bodies. It has no place in Pennsylvania communities. Alterra’s departure is a welcome relief.”
“The cancellation of the planned Sugarloaf Township pyrolysis plant is good news for the people throughout the region,” said Sean Hoffmann, Clean Air Action’s legislative director. “Pyrolysis is bad for our health and perpetuates the plastics crisis by creating more demand for harmful plastics when we should be doing the opposite. We all want good jobs and economic growth in our communities, but that shouldn’t come at the cost of our health and our land. Let’s work together to bring good jobs to our towns while also keeping them safe from pollution.”
The Alterra Energy proposal was first discovered in a neighboring community’s council notes in September 2024 and opted to relocate to Sugarloaf. The community’s concerns have prevailed months later.
The Texas-based corporation Encina announced on April 18, 2024 that it was withdrawing its plan to develop a toxic plastics chemical recycling plant along the banks of the Susquehanna River in Point Township, Northumberland County.
The facility would have been the largest of its kind in the United States and intended to use extreme heat pyrolysis and refining processes to turn post-consumer plastic waste into benzene, a known carcinogen, xylene, and toluene. These chemicals were then to be shipped by rail, raising major air quality and safety concerns. The facility, proposed to be built in a floodplain along the West branch of the Susquehanna River, would have withdrawn 2.9 million gallons of water from the river per day, raising huge concerns about PFAS, microplastics, and other sources of contamination to a vital source of drinking water.
Encina’s permitting process was plagued with denials and deficiency letters. In March 2023, the Point Township Zoning Board unanimously rejected Encina’s application for a variance to build the facility above the height allowed for the site. In October 2023, Encina withdrew its application for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit after receiving a second technical deficiency letter. Community opposition culminated on April 2, 2024, when Northumberland Borough Council, which is the neighboring municipality, unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Encina facility.
Community opposition arose immediately after the facility was first announced in 2022. Residents came together to form the group, Save Our Susquehanna (SOS). Community members met with their local officials, attended municipal and county council meetings, canvassed their neighbors, and wrote letters to the editor to the local newspaper. The Council worked with SOS members to review permit applications and flag deficiencies for regulatory departments.
In a tremendous display of community power, Northumberland County residents have shown that the chemical recycling and plastics industries are not welcome in Pennsylvania. However, the fight isn’t over. Encina has been defeated, but it was part of a rapid expansion of pyrolysis and “advanced recycling” facilities that are part of a larger industry-led greenwashing effort to rebrand plastic as sustainable. This is unproven technology: many existing facilities are not economically viable and have been plagued by environmental and safety disasters. Yet we know the industry will keep trying to bring these false solutions to our communities. The Council will continue working with the community group Save our Susquehanna to monitor potential developments and to envision alternatives for a truly sustainable future.
