The French President and CEO of Eastman Chemical Company have recently announced their plans of investing up to $1 billion in molecular recycling of material-to-material facilities in France.
It has been reported that this facility would leverage Eastman's polyester renewable technology to reprocess up to 160,000 metric tons yearly of hard-to-recycle plastic waste, which is being burned at present.
Notably, the investment would help recycle enough plastic waste that fills the Stade de France national football stadium 2.5 times, while developing a virgin-quality material with a significantly lower carbon footprint.
Eastman Board Chair and CEO Mark Costa mentioned that this investment is a noteworthy step forward in the strategy of Eastman to drive the circular economy globally. Eastman is pleased to be collaborating with the French government to enthusiastically contribute to France's and the EU's bold commitments.
Last year, in November, Procter & Gamble and Eastman announced that the first P&G brand using Eastman Renew molecular-recycled plastic in its packaging would be Herbal Essences.
Eastman collaborated with LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics, a division of luxury powerhouse LVMH, in June 2021 to develop the packaging made possible via Eastman's molecular reprocessing technologies for the first extravagance product featuring Eastman Cristal Renew - the Dior Addict Lip Maximizer.
Furthermore, Eastman's proven technology of polyester renewal delivers exact circularity for hard-to-recycle plastic waste, which stays in a linear economy at present. This hard-to-recycle waste is shattered into its molecular building blocks and then assembled to become first-quality material without any conciliation in performance.
The polyester renewal technology of Eastman qualifies the hypothetically infinite value of materials by keeping them in manufacturing lifecycle.
Moreover, Eastman is recognized as the largest investor at the "Choose France" event this year, focusing on enticing France's foreign investment.