MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman has recently announced a breakthrough innovation to address the world's plastic waste problem. The firm’s innovation-driven growth strategy is underpinned by creating value through sustainability and a commitment to enhancing the quality of life in a material way, said Process-worldwide.
The strategy is driving the company's efforts to advance the circular economy by finding new uses for products or materials otherwise reaching end of life. In March, the company announced plans to launch an advanced circular recycling technology that breaks down polyester waste that cannot be recycled by current mechanical methods into basic polymer building blocks that can be reintroduced as new polyester-based polymers, delivering a true circular solution.
The recent announcement introduces a second Eastman innovation called carbon renewal technology, which 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. With this new recycling technology, materials such as flexible packaging and plastic films, among others, can be diverted from landfills.
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.
The company has completed pilot tests at its Kingsport site and plans commercial production in 2019 by leveraging existing assets. This rapid success in developing a new recycling approach is a further example of how the firm leverages its scale and integration to provide sustainable solutions to the world.
The company is exploring commercial collaborations to yield mixed plastic waste to be recycled through carbon renewal technology at commercial scale.
As MRC informed earlier, Jacobs Engineering won a contract from Eastman Chemical to provide capital construction, maintenance and turnaround services at Eastman sites in Longview, Texas, and Kingsport, Tennessee. The contract includes additional maintenance services scope at the Kingsport facility where Jacobs previously provided capital construction services. At the same time, Jacobs will expand its delivery to maintenance and construction at Eastman's Longview facility.
MRC