Eastman to use $375 million grant from DOE to build second molecular recycling facility in Texas 

Eastman has announced plans to build a second U.S. molecular recycling facility at its location in Longview, Texas. The company's grant application to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been selected to begin award negotiations. The $375 million fund, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, will be used to support operations that will prepare mixed plastic waste for processing, Eastman’s next-generation molecular recycling unit to depolymerize waste, and a polymer facility to create virgin-quality materials for packaging and textiles. According to Eastman, the new plant will have the ability to recycle 110,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste. The project is expected to generate 200 new jobs for the surrounding area.  

In a recent quote, Mark Costa, Eastman Board Chair and CEO, said, “We are excited to build our second U.S. world-scale molecular recycling facility at our existing site in Texas. The plant will remove significant waste from the region, enable true circularity and set a new benchmark for decarbonization. We have decades of history successfully operating in Longview, and this will be a great investment for the local community.” 

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