Eastman Receives Up To $375 Mln DOE Fund For Second U.S. Molecular Recycling Project

(RTTNews) - Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) on Monday announced that its second U.S. molecular recycling project has been chosen by the Department of Energy or DOE to enter negotiations for up to $375 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program.

The second U.S. molecular recycling facility is at its Longview, Texas location, and is expected to have the capacity to recycle around 110,000 metric tonnes of difficult-to-recycle plastic waste.

This investment is projected to create more than 200 permanent, well-compensated jobs in the Longview community, along with approximately 1,000 temporary construction jobs.

By utilizing Eastman's next-generation methanolysis technology, this project is expected to reduce carbon emissions in PET production. The recycled PET is estimated to have over 70 percent reduced carbon emissions compared to fossil virgin production, with a total reduction of approximately 90 percent when factoring in avoided emissions.

Additionally, Eastman secured substantial state and local tax incentives totaling around $70 million to support the project.