Eastman Chemical Co. has chosen Longview, Texas, as the site of its second chemical recycling plant in the U.S.
Kingsport, Tenn.-based Eastman has operated in Longview for more than 70 years. The project will receive up to $375 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and Inflation Reduction Act funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
In a news release, Eastman officials said the firm selected the Longview site because of synergies with existing infrastructure and operations, favorable energy supply and footprint, and access to western and central U.S. feedstock pools. They added the site also provides enough space for on-site renewable energy.
The investment includes operations to prepare mixed plastic waste for processing, Eastman's unit to depolymerize waste and a polymer facility to make virgin-quality materials for packaging and textiles.
The Longview plant will have capacity to process about 240 million pounds of plastic waste annually.
The investment is expected to create more than 200 jobs, as well as about 1,000 temporary construction jobs. Eastman currently employs more than 1,500 in Longview.
Chairman and CEO Mark Costa said in the release that the new plant "will remove significant waste from the region, enable true circularity and set a new benchmark for decarbonization."
Eastman officials said the firm was selected by the Energy department to accelerate the demonstration of low-carbon-intensity recycled PET. They added that working with the government allows Eastman to expand the project to include thermal heat batteries and onsite solar power.
That expansion — combined with Eastman's next-generation methanolysis technology — "achieves a step-change improvement" in decarbonizing PET production, officials said, resulting in recycled PET with more than 70 percent less carbon emissions compared to fossil virgin production and about 90 percent less when including avoided emissions.
"We are honored to be selected by the DOE to help fund this important project," Costa said. "The commitment helps us to further invest in the local community with a comprehensive community benefits plan."
Eastman also will receive around $70 million in state and local tax incentives for the new plant.
Officials said Eastman's methanolysis technology handles hard-to-recycle polyester waste bound for landfill or incineration. Eastman's first plant using this technology recently opened in Kingsport. That plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year and is the same size as the one planned for Longview. The firm also plans to build a similar plant in France.
Earlier this year, Eastman signed a plastic waste feedstock agreement with U.S.-based recycler Rumpke Waste & Recycling for the Kingsport plant. As part of the deal, Rumpke will collect and sort hard-to-recycle and colored PET packaging waste later in 2024 and will provide all of that waste stream to Eastman's depolymerization recycling process.
Eastman posted sales of $9.2 billion in 2023, down 13 percent from the previous year. The firm's 2023 profit jumped almost 13 percent to $896 million. Eastman makes Tritan-brand copolyester and other specialty materials.