Proposed plastics recycling plant advances plans despite pushback

Point Township, Pa. — A proposed plastics recycling facility is under scrutiny again as it forges ahead with development plans, despite ongoing skepticism from community and environmental groups.

The Texas-based Encina recently announced it would be contracting with Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, a division of the parent company Veolia Water — the wastewater treatment company being sued for its role in the Flint water crisis, among others.

Encina has said it has the "upmost confidence" in Veolia's treatment facilities.

Common concerns center upon the scale of the project, which would be located along the Susquehanna River between Danville and Northumberland, as well as its potential for polluting the region’s air and waterways.

Over 186 community members responded to a survey issued by the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, with over 70% of respondents rating their concern for environmental impact at a 10 out of 10.

John Zaktansky of the Riverkeeper Association has reported extensively on the project, including conducting interviews with Encina to address community concerns and logistical questions related to the project. Find Zaktansky’s reporting here.

Veolia/Encina agreement

A major water supplier worldwide, Veolia intends to install a wastewater treatment system and help ensure water quality at the Point Township facility, the company announced Aug. 1 in a press release.

The large scale company, operating in 130 countries with an annual revenue estimated at $13.7 billion, has been linked to numerous environmental lawsuits.

In 2015, a water quality issue in a Pittsburgh municipality led to a class action lawsuit being filed against Veolia and the city utility company, reports Mother Jones. Veolia was later sued by the utility company for mismanagement. In the Flint case, Veolia was charged for fraud and negligence after failing to detect lead contamination.

Encina is aware of such a track record, reports The Standard Journal, but considers themselves as the leaders on the project and assumes responsibility for meeting high standards. When asked to comment on Veolia’s legal history, Alison Jahn, Encina chief communications officer, said, “We have the utmost confidence in Veolia that they have a proven track record building wastewater management systems and wastewater treatment systems around the world. And that's why we chose them.”

Per the agreement, Veolia would implement a water treatment system on site. The location is set in an EPA designated “Watershed Priority Area” for drinking water, agricultural use, wildlife, and fish, making the region a conservation priority. Jahn stressed that Encina will be following all permitting requirements per federal and state law.

Veolia’s system would take up water from the Susquehanna—an average of 2.5 million gallons a day—and use it to rinse plastic, removing organic matter or non plastic materials like paper labels, according to Jahn. The Veolia technology will then treat that water, filtering out bacteria, before returning 60 to 70 percent of it to the river.

Daily withdrawals from the Susquehanna River for civic uses are estimated at around 400 million gallons per day, according to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

How will the water quality be tested?

Veolia’s treatment plan includes “continuous monitoring and testing for all parameters to stay below permissible levels. This includes testing for temperature, dissolved oxygen, chlorine, pH conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, sodium silicate nitrogen, phosphates and metals,” Jahn explained.

The treatment plan does not include testing for PFAS chemicals, Jahn said, as PFAS testing is not currently required by the EPA or Pennsylvania state law. The EPA has proposed to expand PFAS regulations for drinking water specifically, setting a maximum contamination level at 4 parts per trillion.

A recent article from Inside Climate News reasons that the Encina plant will be a likely cause of PFAS pollution, as no technology has yet been proven to reduce PFAS below the 4 parts per trillion threshold.

The Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system proposed by Veoila would filter out any particulates greater than 0.04 µm in size — a significantly larger size than 4 parts per trillion.

The water to be used at the Encina facility is “not drinking water,” said Jahn. However, according to the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper, the section of the Susquehanna River along the proposed site is a source of drinking water for residents of Shamokin Dam, among other areas.

Microplastics may also be a concern, as explained in Zaktansky's reporting.

Tiny particles less than five millimeters in size, microplastics have been found in found in all of Pennsylvania’s tested stream waters, according to a release from the Office of Attorney General Michelle Henry.

Henry's office recently sent a letter to the EPA calling for community education on microfibers (plastics manufactured into clothing) and joined in comments urging stricter regulation of the petrochemical industry, specifically ethylene oxide, which is carcinogenic to humans.

Will this "advanced recycling" project make a dent in the plastics problem?

According to Jahn, the Encina project will support the environment by reducing the production of new plastics products and "removes end-of-life plastics from the waste stream."

This plan has also been described as "greenwashing" or a "false recycling narrative" that doesn't get to the heart of the plastics waste problem, reports Zaktansky, citing an article by Ad Cradle, Chesapeake Bay Journal.

Encina maintains that their project is a step in the right direction given the realities of manufacturing.

"What a company like ours does is we're stopping all of the single use plastic that is difficult to recycle to come to our location and we use our process to return them into base materials that can be used for plastics over and over again," Jahn said.

"We're taking something that would have been diverted or potentially burned, which is a super high greenhouse emission rate. And we're giving it a life that can be used over and over and over again."

Proponents of "advanced recycling" may view the Encina project as an extension of their stance.

Advanced recycling is an emerging market which looks to convert used plastics into new materials, rather than disposing them as waste products. Advanced recycling legislation classifies the new recycling technologies—such as those adopted by Encina and Veolia—as part of the plastics manufacturing industry moving forward.

Pennsylvania signed advanced recycling legislation into law in 2020 under Governor Tom Wolf. The Environmental Hearing Board recently dismissed a legal attempt to challenge the legislation.

Environmentalists challenge the advanced recycling model as a faulty attempt to create a "circular economy" for a product that cannot ever be circular or climate neutral, citing the energy demands and carbon emissions of production, and the continued circulation of plastics, reports Inside Climate news.

The debates around "advanced recycling" and the Encina project are expected to continue. Encina looks to begin construction of the facility at the end of 2023 or early 2024, pending permit approval.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters.

Sign Up Today!

Access to independent, local news is important, do you agree?

We work hard to deliver timely, relevant news, for free. 100% of your contribution to NorthcentralPa.com goes directly to helping us cover news and events in the region.

Thank you for saying that local news matters!

This article has been edited to clarify that lawsuits have been filed against Veolia Water, the parent company of Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

What's happening today? Here's your update!

Get a daily list straight to your email inbox.

Get the latest Job listings in your email! Sign up today!

Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter?

Get a weekly list of events happening in North Central Pa.!

Sign Up to be eligible for our weekly Giveaways!