EPA tours Eastman’s chemical recycling plant in Tennessee

A pair of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials toured Eastman Chemical Corp. to better understand how the company operates its chemical recycling plant in Tennessee.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to show interest in chemical recycling of plastics as two agency officials recently took a first-hand look at operations at Eastman Chemical Co.’s methanolysis plant in Tennessee. Both EPA Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Steven Cook and Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber were in Kingsport, Tenn., to tour the company’s recycling facility that can handle 250 million pounds of recycled polyester each year. “The advanced recycling work happening in Tennessee demonstrates how cutting-edge American engineering can keep plastic waste out of landfills, increase demand for recycled products, and create high-quality manufacturing jobs right here in our region,” McOmber said in a statement.

Eastman uses methanol to break down waste plastics into their molecular constituents — dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene glycol — that then can be used to make new plastics. “Eastman’s Kingsport site is a powerful example of how innovation can help solve real-world materials challenges,” said Steve Crawford, Eastman executive vice president and chief technology and sustainability officer said in a statement. The recent visit follows EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s visit last fall to ExxonMobil Corp.’s chemical recycling facility in Baytown, Texas.

That location is designed to primarily recycle high- and low-density polyethylene and polypropylene with lower amounts of other polymers. The company’s Exxtend-branded process uses pyrolysis to break down plastics. Exxtend uses heat and pressure to transform used plastic into ethane and naphtha that are then used at the Baytown refinery to make new products.