French President Emmanuel Macron and Eastman Board Chair and CEO Mark Costa will announce a $1 billion investment in a material-to-material molecular recycling plant in France. This plant will recycle more than 176,000 tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste that is presently burning using Eastman’s polyester renewal technology. The investment would result in high-quality virgin material with a much smaller carbon impact.
Eastman’s effort has received backing from worldwide businesses that share its commitment to addressing the world’s plastic waste problem. See molecular recycling as a critical instrument in reaching circularity. Letters of intent are being signed for multiyear supply agreements from this plant by LVMH Beauty, The Estée Lauder Companies, Clarins, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, and Danone.
Mixed plastic waste processing
This multi-phase project includes units that will prepare mixed plastic waste for processing. A methanolysis unit that will depolymerize the trash. Polymer lines that will produce a variety of high-quality materials for specialized, packaging, and textile applications. Eastman also intends to develop a molecular recycling innovation center. Allowing France to maintain its leadership position in the circular economy. This innovation center would promote alternative recycling technologies. And uses to reduce plastic waste incineration while leaving fossil fuel in the ground. The target is to open a factory and research center by 2025. Employing roughly 350 people and generating an additional 1,500 indirect jobs in recycling, energy, and infrastructure.
A circular economy is critical to tackling the worldwide plastic waste epidemic and the climate catastrophe. Both of which have received significant attention in France and throughout Europe. By decreasing carbon emissions and allowing a circular economy. This long-term relationship between France and Eastman will help the EU achieve its sustainability goals. France has shown remarkable leadership in understanding the importance of molecular recycling and encouraging investments in innovation.
Eastman claims that their proven polyester renewal process enables full circularity for difficult-to-recycle plastic trash that is still a part of today’s linear economy. This material is burning since it cannot get into the recycling or downcycling process using current technologies. This difficult-to-recycle waste transforms into molecular building blocks that are getting reassembled to create first-quality material with no performance compromise. Eastman’s polyester renewal technology allows materials to have potentially unlimited value by retaining them in manufacturing lifetime after lifecycle. Materials may be whose production creates up to 80% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than previous techniques thanks to the inherent efficiency of the technology and the renewable energy sources accessible in France.