US company Eastman has selected the site for its second chemical recycling plant for waste plastics in North America. The facility is to be located around 210 km east of Dallas at the company's Longview, Texas, campus. There it would benefit from existing infrastructure, energy supply, and access to feedstock pools, said the chemicals manufacturer.
The company plans to use its "molecular recycling" technology, a depolymerisation process, to recycle around 110,000 tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastics per year to produce food-grade polymers. The investment is to include operations that will prepare mixed plastic waste for processing, the molecular recycling unit to depolymerise waste, and a polymer facility to create virgin-quality materials for packaging and textiles.
Eastman reported it had obtained significant state and local tax incentives valued at approximately $70m (ca. €64m). In addition, the molecular recycling plant had advanced in the selection process for up to $375m in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) under the US Inflation Reduction Act. According to Eastman, the project would accelerate the demonstration of industry-leading low-carbon intensity recycled PET. "Reaching a collaborative agreement with the DOE would make it possible to expand the project to include the deployment of thermal heat batteries and onsite solar power," according to the announcement.
Production begins at first US facility
Eastman's first US chemical recycling facility, located in Kingsport, Tennessee was recently brought into operation. On 21 March, Eastman reported that the plant had achieved initial production and was now generating revenue. The company expects to ramp up throughput over the coming months and to deliver around $75m of incremental earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) from the new facility in 2024.
CEO and board chairman Mark Costa said that Eastman had solidified its position as a leader in the creation of a circular economy by demonstrating molecular recycling at this scale.
In addition to the US facilities, Eastman is planning to build a recycling plant in Port-Jerôme sur Seine in northern France. According to previous announcements, Eastman expects to invest a total of around $2.25bn in the three projects.
