Issue 4 2021 - Eastman will build a world-scale waste plastic recycling plant

Eastman will build on a world scale

Waste plastic recycling plant

Mark Costa, chairman and CEO of Eastman Chemicals, and Bill Lee, Governor of Tennessee, jointly announced that Eastman will build one of
the world's largest plastic recycling facilities at its Kingsport, Tennessee, facility.
Through methanol breakdown, the facility will convert polyester waste that is often submerged in landfills and waterways into durable products, creating an optimized circular economy
, Eastman said.
Over the next two years, the company will invest approximately $250 million
in the facility.
Using polyester recycling technology, the new facility will produce high-quality specialty plastics
from more than 100,000 tons of plastic waste that is currently not recyclable by mechanical methods.
This process, which uses plastic waste as the main raw material, is a true material-to-material solution
.
It will not only reduce the company's use of fossil raw materials, but also reduce its greenhouse gas emissions relative to fossil raw materials by 20%~30%.

The new facility, which is expected to be mechanically completed by the end of 2022, will help the company meet its sustainability commitments to address the plastic waste crisis, which includes recycling more than 500 million pounds of plastic waste
annually through molecular recycling technology by 2030.