Using ‘recycled plastic’ in construction materials may not be a great idea after all – Grist Magazine

Asphalt (by katsuuu 44 CC BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Last month, the American Chemistry Council, a petrochemical industry trade group, sent out a newsletter highlighting a major new report on what it presented as a promising solution to the plastic pollution crisis: using “recycled” plastic in construction materials. At first blush, it might seem like a pretty good idea — shred discarded plastic into tiny pieces and you can reprocess it into everything from roads and bridges to railroad ties…