The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially revoked its June 2023 proposal for Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) on July 9, 2025. Under the idea, eighteen chemicals made from post-consumer plastic trash would have been regulated.

Any production, processing, use, commercial distribution, or disposal of these substances that went beyond the parameters of a TSCA §5(e) consent order would have been considered a “significant new use” under the 2023 proposal. Furthermore, production or processing that employed feedstocks containing any of the following prohibited elements would have been subject to expanded control under the proposal:

· Heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury)

· Dioxins

· Phthalates

· Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

· Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) mixtures

· Alkylphenols

· Perchlorates

· Benzophenone

· Bisphenol A (BPA)

· Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs)

· Ethylene glycol

· Methyl glycol

· N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)

According to the SNURs, businesses would have had to give EPA at least ninety days’ notice before starting any new use of this kind. The EPA would then have had ninety days to perform a safety study of the planned conditions of use.

The withdrawal follows developments in the underlying legal proceedings:

Citizens for Cherokees Concerned challenged the TSCA §5(e) consent order on April 7, 2023, by filing a petition for review (Case No. 23-1096) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Aware of possible legal flaws in the decision, EPA voluntarily demanded it for review on December 4, 2024, with the court’s consent. On December 18, 2024, EPA publicly rescinded the order and the related pre-manufacture notice (PMN) conclusions. EPA stressed that none of the compounds had been put into commercial manufacturing at the time of revocation.

The chemicals in question are meant to be used in devices that turn waste plastic into fuel for vehicles. Environmental organizations caution against potential ecological and health hazards, while proponents contend that these procedures promote a circular economy.

Next Steps

According to EPA, it will reexamine the regulations for compounds made from plastic trash by consulting with stakeholders and conducting a more comprehensive scientific evaluation.

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