Eastman to Construct Modern Plastic Recycling Facility

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Eastman will invest up to $1 billion in building a new material-to-material molecular recycling facility in France, which the company believes would be the world’s largest such facility. The announcement to this effect was made jointly by Mark Costa, CEO, Eastman and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The proposed facility would use Eastman's proprietary polyester renewal technology to recycle hard-to-recycle plastic waste, which would otherwise end up in landfills or be incinerated. The facility has capacity to process up to 160,000 metric tons of plastic waste per annum, thus producing virgin-quality material with significantly lower carbon footprint.

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In addition to the recycling facility, the company plans to establish an innovation center for molecular recycling that would enable France to sustain a leadership role in the circular economy. The center will advance alternative recycling methods and applications. Together, the plant and innovation center will create approximately 350 direct jobs, in addition to nearly 1,500 indirect jobs in recycling, energy and infrastructure and are expected to become fully operational by 2025.

The long-term partnership between France and Eastman will provide huge boost to EU’s efforts in achieving its sustainability goals, by reducing carbon emissions and enabling a circular economy.