For Eastman Chemical Co., 2022 is expected to bring plans for new chemical recycling units and more capacity for Tritan-brand copolyester.
Officials with Kingsport, Tenn.-based Eastman talked about those projects and other topics as part of the firm's 2021 Innovation Day event.
Eastman is building its first chemical recycling unit in Kingsport — the company calls the technology molecular recycling. The $250 million project is set for mechanical completion by the end of 2022, with recycled material available in early 2023.
During the Dec. 7 event, Executive Vice President Brad Lich said that Eastman "is in active discussions" for additional projects in Europe and the U.S. and expects to announce at least one additional circular economy project in the first half of 2022.
"The triple challenge created by the climate, plastic waste and growing population crises has intensified the need for sustainable innovations," Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Crawford said in a news release.
According to Crawford, advantages to Eastman's molecular recycling technologies include a lower carbon footprint, the ability to recycle hard-to-recycle waste, no compromise in performance and security of supply.
In a Dec. 7 video interview with Plastics News, Plastics and Circular President Scott Ballard said that Eastman also will add almost 180 million pounds of annual Tritan capacity by the end of 2022. The material is seeing sales growth in appliances and water bottles and has opportunities in consumer food service as well, he added.
Eastman's customers are increasingly interested in sustainable materials, according to Ballard.
"A lot of companies are still figuring out what they want to do with sustainability," he said. "We're in a unique position because we have so many brands pulling us and because we can offer drop-in quality material to processors."
Sustainability efforts also are helping Eastman's bottom line, CEO Mark Costa said in the release.
"We are providing solutions for the plastic waste and climate crises while also creating a new vector of growth that has the potential to deliver greater than $450 million of adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, deductions and amortization] by 2026," he added.
Eastman has had a very active 2021 that began in January when the molecular recycling project was announced. In June, the firm announced a project with German technology firm SAP SE that will allow certified recycled content to be traced across the value chain. Then in September, Eastman made a downstream move by acquiring Matrix Films LLC, a Holliston, Mass.-based firm that markets PremiumShield-brand performance films, including an extended line of automotive film patterns.
Eastman employs 14,500 worldwide. In the first nine months of 2021, the firm posted sales of $7.8 billion, up 24 percent vs. the same period in 2020, and profit of $487 million, up 7 percent in the same comparison. During that time, sales in Eastman's Advanced Materials unit, including Tritan, grew 22 percent to $2.26 billion.