Eastman Chemical Company announced on Monday that its second U.S. molecular recycling initiative has been selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) for negotiations. The company is eligible for up to $375 million in funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. This funding forms part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program.
The mentioned molecular recycling facility is based in Longview, Texas, and is anticipated to handle about 110,000 metric tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste.
This investment is likely to generate over 200 high-paying, permanent jobs in the Longview community and offer around 1,000 temporary positions in the construction field.
The project makes use of Eastman's innovative methanolysis technology to minimize carbon emissions during PET production. The resultant recycled PET is predicted to have carbon emissions reduced by more than 70% compared to traditional fossil virgin production. Taking into account the avoided emissions, the total reduction hits approximately 90%.
Furthermore, Eastman Chemical Company has obtained significant state and local tax incentives, which approximately equals $70 million, to aid this project.
