apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

How do they behave with hot pots put on them?

Good point about the heat on plastic.
Barring concern that I would go even further on making the counter look like plastic.

What about some colorful stripes? or a nice non-stone color like teal?

This would be a better color alternative than painting your counter that color because it'd be easier to clean.

Although it's totally recycled, does it still off-gas and contain all the yucky chemicals that other plastics do?

Personally we probably would never use it, as we try to eliminate all plastics from the house.

Off-gassing: I imagine it would still do a little, but I feel like most of my cheap plastic objects stink and off-gas for the first few days and then quiet down.

I like the way stone [and fake stone] countertops feel a little bit colder than the rest of the room. It'd probably be fine in a bathroom, but I'd want something else in a kitchen.