Shell’s new plastics plant faces challenges: Balancing local and global impacts
President Trump is due to tour a new petrochemical plant in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. The site, owned by Shell, is 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River. Once it’s fully up and running, it will create millions of tons of plastics every year, as well as 600 jobs. In the construction phase, up to 6,000 people are employed on site.
Many of our conveniences in modern life are made with plastics — they’re crucial for everything from keeping food fresh to helping make vehicles lighter-weight and more efficient. Much of it is recyclable, but not all.
Environmental experts say producing new, virgin plastic makes recycling even more difficult, because it puts pressure on the price and the economics don’t work out.
If you’re a member of your local public radio station, we thank you — because your support helps those stations keep programs like Marketplace on the air. But for Marketplace to continue to grow, we need additional investment from those who care most about what we do: superfans like you.
Your donation — as little as $5 — helps us create more content that matters to you and your community, and to reach more people where they are – whether that’s radio, podcasts or online.
When you contribute directly to Marketplace, you become a partner in that mission: someone who understands that when we all get smarter, everybody wins.
