Eastman, a global specialty chemical company, announced a breakthrough innovation to address the plastic waste problem worldwide on Wednesday.
The company announced plans in March to launch an advanced circular recycling technology that breaks down polyester waste that cannot be recycled into basic polymer building blocks by current mechanical methods that can be reintroduced as new polyester – based polymers, providing a true circular solution.
This is Eastman’s second innovation called carbon renewal technology that is capable of recycling some of the most complex plastic waste, including non-polyester plastics and mixed plastics that cannot be recycled with conventional recycling technologies. Materials such as flexible packaging and plastic films can be diverted from landfills with this new recycling technology.
By modifying the front end of Eastman’s cellulosics production, carbon renewal technology uses plastic waste as feedstock and converts it back to simple and versatile molecular components. The process partially oxidizes the plastic and, at a very high efficiency, converts it into the basic building blocks of certain Eastman products, including Advanced Materials and Fibers segment products that serve ophthalmics, durables, packaging, textiles and nonwovens end-use markets.
Eastman has completed pilot tests at its Kingsport site and plans commercial production later this year.
The company is looking for commercial collaborations to yield mixed plastic waste to be recycled through carbon renewal technology at commercial scale.
Board Chair and CEO Mark Costa said, “Eastman has the technology, the innovation power and the people to make a difference. Eastman is now uniquely positioned to deliver two powerful innovation solutions that target different plastic waste streams that pose complex challenges. Plastics are used in so many important ways. But because some don’t have good end-of-life solutions or are discarded, the world is facing a problem of significant magnitude.”
“Eastman is embracing its stated purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way for people around the world,” Costa added. “This translates not only to producing superior materials for the products consumers use daily, but also contributes in a meaningful way to a circular economy – an economy where we reuse and repurpose our resources, so they retain their value for as long as possible.”
Source: Eastman Chemical Company
