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Texas City is among many options for chem-recycling site – Eastman

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Eastman stressed that Texas is one among several options it is exploring for a possible chemical recycling project, which would break down waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and use the resulting monomers to make resin.

Recently, Eastman filed an application with a local school district to get a tax break on such a project at its existing site in Texas City, Texas.

The filing does not commit Eastman to picking Texas City for the project, the company said in a statement issued on Saturday.

“The team is still going through a robust site selection process and there could be multiple filings of this type in several states as we look for the most attractive locations for this investment,” Eastman said. “We are in the process of exploring several options for this potential project and working through due diligence to gain the most attractive incentives for a large capital investment.”

The tax-break application describes a possible project that would include a processing unit that would sort out PET from plastic waste.

Another unit would break down the recovered polyester resin into monomers by using methanolysis, according to the application. A third unit would repolymerise the monomers to produce PET.

The project could produce more than 150,000 tonnes/year of plastic from recovered polyesters and mixed textiles, Eastman said in the application. The value of the investment could be $850m.

Eastman estimates that the board of the school district could ratify a final agreement on the tax break in the fourth quarter of 2022. Construction could start in the fourth quarter of 2024. Commercial operations could start in the fourth quarter of 2026.

If Eastman builds the project, it would be similar to the one it is building in Kingsport, Tennessee. It should complete that project by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

The Eastman application said the company’s decision to develop the Texas City project would be heavily influenced by the tax break.

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