In one of the most ambitious chemical recycling initiatives to be announced in the US, Eastman Chemical says it plans to build a $250 million polyethylene terephthalate (PET) depolymerization plant at its Kingsport, Tennessee, complex by the end of 2022.
The plant will use methanolysis technology to break down 100,000 metric tons (t) per year of post-consumer PET waste—from sources such as carpet fiber and PET packaging—into dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene glycol. Eastman will use the monomers to make specialty polyesters such as its Tritan Renew line, which is molded into products like refillable water bottles. Making the resins with the recycled content is 20-30% less greenhouse gas intensive than using fossil fuel-based feedstocks, the company says.
