Eastman Chemical Co. is shutting down a solvent-based polyvinyl butyral line in Springfield, Mass., permanently laying off 60 employees, “due to changes in the market for solvent-based PVB resin.”
Eastman operates two resin lines at the Springfield location. The company is shutting down “an older resin line based on solvent technology,” Amanda Allman, a corporate communications representative for Eastman, told Plastics News in an email.
“The department will be closed, and almost all operations associated with production of PVB will cease” starting on Oct. 21 and continuing through a 14-day period, a worker adjustment and retraining notification submitted to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said.
A few employees will remain employed through Dec. 31, “to ensure full and safe decontamination and depletion of inventory of the unit operations, raw materials, and finished products,” the notice added.
The company closed a PVB resin plant in Trenton, Mich., in 2020. At the time, Eastman officials said in a statement that a lower demand outlook for interlayers for at least the next two-three years was a reason for the closing. They also cited a need to make large capital investments at the Trenton site to maintain boiler and process water access.
“Eastman has a strong commitment to the PVB industry,” Allman said. “The impact to Eastman’s overall PVB resin capacity is minimal and has no impact on Eastman’s ability to supply PVB sheet globally.”
“We’ve made several recent investments in our water-based resin facility and Saflex production lines at the … site, which position it well for emerging market trends and demands across the North America market.”
Employees do not have bumping rights “except as may be provided in an applicable collective bargaining agreement,” the notice said, adding that “55 of the affected employees are members of the International Chemical Workers Union Council 414” and covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
“The remaining employees are unrepresented and do not have bumping rights,” it said. “Various factors may still affect these plans and the timing of employee separations.”