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Showing 1 to 17 of 17 entries


Sustainability	Kokel, Nicolas Eastman 2025/06/02 04:45 PM Eastman’s Molecular Recycling Projects: Current Status and Challenges. View Main Message Eastman’s Kingsport, Tenn. plant was initially estimated to cost $250 million over two years, but recent financial filings suggest the price tag has crept upward. \| William Griffith/Shutterstock Eastman Chemical Company has positioned itself as a leader in “molecular recycling,” focusing on advanced chemical processes to recycle hard-to-recycle polyester plastics. The company’s flagship technology, known as Polyester Renewal Technology (PRT), uses methanolysis to break down polyester waste into its original monomers, enabling the production of new, virgin-quality plastics from waste streams that cannot be recycled mechanically. This article reviews the status of Eastman’s key projects in the United States and France, the technology used, and the specific challenges—both technical and regulatory—facing these ambitious initiatives. Existing Facilities and Technology Eastman’s molecular recycling facility in Kingsport, Tennessee, has been operational since early 2024 and is claimed to be profitable as it is already generating revenue. This plant serves as the model for Eastman’s subsequent molecular recycling projects and showcases the company’s advanced PRT. At steady-state capacity, the Kingsport asset will recycle 110,000 metric tons of polyester waste annually and achieved sustained operating rates of ~70% capacity by mid-2024. While Eastman resolved a mechanical issue in July 2024 and continues ramping production toward its full capacity target, current output remains below nameplate levels. Kingsport facility is recognized as a benchmark for the company’s future sites. At the core of this technology is the chemical recycling of polyester waste—primarily polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly found in packaging, textiles, and various consumer products. The facility uses methanol under controlled heat and pressure to break down PET into its original monomers: dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG). Once separated and purified, these monomers are used as raw materials to manufacture new, virgin-quality polyester products. The plastics produced through this process are indistinguishable in quality and performance from those made with fossil-based feedstocks, supporting the development of a true circular economy for polyester materials. Eastman Polymerisation Renewal Technology (PRT) description by Portfolio Planning PLUS One of the key advantages of Eastman’s methanolysis-based recycling is its ability to process types of plastics that are unsuitable for traditional mechanical recycling. This includes colored, opaque, multilayer, and contaminated PET waste—materials that typically end up in landfills or are incinerated. By converting these challenging waste streams back into high-value inputs for new products, Eastman’s technology significantly reduces plastic waste and the environmental impact associated with virgin plastic production. According to Eastman, the Kingsport facility’s process results in greenhouse gas reductions of 20–50% compared to conventional production methods using fossil resources. Projects in Development Longview, Texas (USA) Eastman is planning a second molecular recycling facility in Longview, Texas, which is expected to become operational in 2028. The facility will use the same PRT (methanolysis) as the Kingsport plant, with added innovations such as thermal batteries and on-site solar power to further decarbonize the PET production process. Designed to process approximately 110,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle plastic waste annually, the Longview project is part of Eastman’s broader $2.25 billion investment in new recycling infrastructure. The facility is anticipated to create around 1,000 temporary construction and trade jobs, as well as 200 permanent full-time positions once complete. A significant development affecting the Longview project occurred on 30 May 2025, when the Trump administration canceled a $375 million federal grant that had been allocated to support the facility’s construction. This grant, which was part of a larger Department of Energy initiative, was initially approved under the Biden administration in March 2024 but was revoked as part of a broader rollback of renewable energy and decarbonization funding. The estimated total cost of the Longview project is more than $1.2 billion. Despite this setback, Eastman has publicly maintained its commitment to the project as a key component of its global circularity strategy, though the loss of federal funding introduces new financial and logistical challenges for its timely completion. Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, Normandy (France) A third molecular recycling facility using is planned to be built in the Port-Jérôme industrial zone in Normandy, France, which Eastman announced on March 15, 2024. The facility is designed to be developed in two phases: Phase I aims to recycle more than 110,000 metric tonnes of hard-to-recycle polyester waste annually, while Phase II is planned to expand capacity to over 200,000 metric tonnes per year. The plant will also use PRT, which breaks down polyester plastics into their monomers for reuse. For Phase I alone, Eastman has planned an investment exceeding $1 billion. The project is expected to create 350 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs, including 500 positions during the construction phase. To secure a steady supply of feedstock, Eastman has signed agreements with partners such as Interzero Plastics Recycling to provide PET household packaging waste for the facility. Additionally, several global brands—including LVMH Beauty, Estée Lauder Companies, Clarins, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, and Danone—have signed letters of intent for multiyear contracts to supply the plant. This project is currently on hold as Eastman closely tracks the evolving regulatory landscape within the European Union regarding plastic waste and packaging. However, more crucially, according to a private source, the project’s future is fundamentally threatened by the absence of any plan to supply electrical power to the plant before 2028 at the earliest—a factor that places its timely realization in serious jeopardy, regardless of regulatory developments. Outlook: Expansion at Risk Due to Regulatory, Funding, and Power Supply Issues Eastman’s molecular recycling initiatives face significant uncertainty, as its two flagship development projects—the Longview, Texas facility and the Normandy, France plant—are both under threat from major external challenges. The Texas project is at risk due to the loss of critical federal funding, while the Normandy facility faces not only ongoing regulatory uncertainty in the EU but, more crucially, a lack of any planned electrical power supply to the site before at least 2028. If these obstacles are not resolved, both projects could ultimately be cancelled. Eastman’s ability to realize its circular economy ambitions now depends on overcoming these substantial financial, regulatory, and infrastructure barriers—an outcome that remains highly uncertain in the current environment. #eastman #circularity #recycling #molecularrecycling #chemicalrecycling #plasticwaste #mixedplasticwaste #polyesterrecycling #depolymerization #methanolysis #longview #kingsport #portjerome #Sustainability
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas Eastman PRT 2025/06/02 02:50 PM Eastman polyester recycling technology added. View Main Message Eastman polyester recycling technology has been added. #eastman #polyester #recycling #molecularrecycling #chemicalrecycling #depolymerization #pet #methanolysis
News	Kokel, Nicolas MGC 2025/04/26 01:19 PM MITSUBISHI GAS CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC. added. View Main Message MITSUBISHI GAS CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC. has been created. #mitsubishi #gas #chemicals #japan #tokyo #methanol
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas DICP DMTO 2025/03/16 12:35 PM DICP Methanol-to-Olefins Technology (DMTO) description completed. View Main Message Description of the DICP Methanol-to-Olefins Technology (DMTO) has been completed. #syn #sinopec #dicp #dmto #methanolstoolefins #china #dalian #lepc #synenergy #coaltoolefins
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas Tech-Type Methanol To Olefins 2025/03/16 09:41 AM Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process description View Main Message The MTO process description has been added. #mto #methanoltoolefins #coalgasification #syngas #dmto #syndmto #dicp #uop #hydromto #sinopec #smto
News	Kokel, Nicolas Jingbian Park 2025/03/16 07:05 AM List of Technologies operating, in construction phase, and in project phase View Main Message TECHNOLOGIE ALREADY OPERATING Coal Gasification ▪️Startup Date: August 2015 (Phase I), July 2021 (Phase II) ▪️Plant Capacity: Supports total methanol production of 2×1.8 million tons/year ▪️Technology Provider: Yanchang Petroleum (integrated proprietary technology) ▪️Feedstock: Coal ▪️Products: Synthesis gas (syngas) Natural Gas Steam Reforming ▪️Startup Date: August 2015 (Phase I), July 2021 (Phase II) ▪️Capacity: Integrated into methanol production capacity ▪️Provider: Proprietary integrated technology by Yanchang Petroleum ▪️Feedstock: Natural gas ▪️Products: Synthesis gas (syngas) Rectisol Gas Cleaning ▪️Startup Date: August 2015 (Phase I), July 2021 (Phase II) ▪️Capacity: Integrated into methanol production capacity ▪️Provider: Proprietary integrated technology ▪️Feedstock: Raw syngas from coal gasification and natural gas reforming ▪️Products: Purified syngas for methanol synthesis Methanol Synthesis ▪️Startup Date: August 2015 (Phase I), July 2021 (Phase II) ▪️Capacity: 2×1.8 million tons/year ▪️Provider: Yanchang Petroleum proprietary integrated technology ▪️Feedstock: Purified syngas (coal-based and natural gas-based mixed syngas), DCC hydrogen-rich gas ▪️Products: MTO-grade Methanol Methanol to Olefins (DMTO) ▪️Startup Date: August 2015 (Phase I), July 2021 (Phase II) ▪️Capacity: 2×600,000 tons/year ▪️Provider: Proprietary DMTO technology ▪️Feedstock: Methanol ▪️Products: Ethylene, Propylene Residual Oil Catalytic Thermal Cracking (DCC) ▪️Startup Date: August 2015 ▪️Capacity: 1.5 million tons/year ▪️Provider: Institute of Petroleum Technology (Double riser technology) ▪️Feedstock: Residual oil ▪️Products: Olefins, Naphtha, Light Diesel Veba Combi Cracking (VCC) Plant ▪️Startup Date: Operational since 2015 ▪️Capacity: 450,000 tons/year ▪️Provider: KBR/BP alliance ▪️Feedstock: FCC slurry oil and coal slurry ▪️Products Made: Naphtha, ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) Polyolefin Units ▪️6 sets of polyolefin units (operating or scheduled) totaling 1.9 million tons/year. ▪️High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE): 300,000 tons/year ▪️Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE):300,000 tons/year ▪️Polypropylene (PP): 600,000 tons/year Near-zero Wastewater Discharge System ▪️First phase started July,20,2014; upgraded in October,2020. ▪️Capacity: Phase I initial design scale 876m³/h – Phase I expansion to 1300m³/h▪️Feedstock: Industrial wastewater, domestic sewage, rainwater ▪️Products Made: Recycled water, sodium sulfate salt, sodium chloride salt TECHNOLOGIES CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR IN PROJECT PHASE Naphtha and Light Diesel Comprehensive Utilization Project ▪️Estimated Startup Date: End of March,2024 ▪️Plant Capacity: Naphtha hydrorefining unit – 250,000 tons/year, Light diesel hydrorefining unit – 200,000 tons/year, Olefin raw material refining unit – 250,000 tons/year, Heavy aromatics adsorption separation unit – 200,000 tons/year. ▪️Technology Provider: Heavy aromatics adsorption separation technology provided by CNOOC Tianjin Chemical Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. ▪️Feedstock: Naphtha and light diesel produced as by-products from DCC unit. ▪️Products Made: Benzene, toluene, mixed xylenes, aromatics. Low Density Polyethylene and Copolymer Plant ▪️Startup Date: License secured September 24, 2024. ▪️Capacity: 150,000 tons/year. ▪️Technology Provider: ECI Group ▪️Technology: Proprietary hybrid reactor high-pressure polymerization technology developed from ICI autoclave technology. ▪️Feedstock: Ethylene with co-monomers such as vinyl acetate (for EVA) and butyl acrylate (for EBA). ▪️Products Made: LDPE (packaging films, coatings), EVA (adhesives, solar encapsulants), and EBA (sealants, specialty applications). Methanol Gasification Slag Comprehensive Utilization Project (No explicit startup date provided) MTBE Unit Low-temperature Heat Utilization Project (In progress; no explicit startup date provided) Coal Gasification Conversion Condensate Environmental Protection Comprehensive Management Project (Currently in project/research stage; no specific startup date provided.) Methane Conversion Air Preheater Upgrade Energy-saving Project (Currently in project/research stage; no specific startup date provided.) Photovoltaic Power Generation Project (Currently in project/research stage; no specific startup date provided.) Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Demonstration Project (Currently under development; no explicit startup date provided.) ▪️Plant Capacity: 360,000 tons/year CO₂ capture and storage ▪️Technology Provider: Proprietary CCUS technology developed by Yanchang Petroleum Group. ▪️Feedstock: CO₂ emissions from coal chemical enterprises. ▪️Products Made: Enhanced oil recovery through CO₂ flooding and underground storage. ADDITIONAL RELEVANT TECHNOLOGIES MENTIONED BUT WITHOUT EXPLICIT OPERATIONAL STATUS OR DATES PROVIDED These technologies are mentioned as part of the company's comprehensive utilization strategy or future plans without clear operational status or startup dates explicitly indicated: C₄ Mix to Olefin Conversion Unit (OCU) (mentioned implicitly as part of the olefin downstream processing chain) C₅ Mix Recycling (implied as part of comprehensive utilization but not explicitly detailed with dates or capacities.) Coal-Methane Co-gasification Technology (mentioned as a future planned project without explicit details on dates or capacities.) Propane and Isobutane Dehydrogenation for Acrylic Acid and Esters Production (mentioned as planned projects without explicit details on dates or capacities.) #coaltoolefins #gasification #methanol #dmto #methanoltoolefins #dcc #fcc #catalyticcracking #vcc #vebacombicracking #polyolefins #netzero #mtbe #sustainability #ccus #ocu #olefinconversionunit
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas AIR LIQUIDE Lurgi Megamethanol™ 2024/12/01 10:05 AM AIR LIQUIDE Lurgi Megamethanol™ technology added. View Main Message AIR LIQUIDE Lurgi Megamethanol™ technology has been added. #airliquide #lurgi #methanol #syngas #megamethanol
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas Tech-Type CO Hydrogenation into Methanol 2024/12/01 06:20 AM Methanol from syngas process added. View Main Message Technology to produce methanol from syngas has been added. #hydrogen #co #carbonmonoxide #syngas #methanol #hydrogenation #co2
Product Technical	Kokel, Nicolas Product Popup Methanol 2024/11/30 07:54 AM Methanol description updated. View Main Message Methanol description has been updated (Main Product definition). #methanol
News	Kokel, Nicolas HECC Guangxi Port 2024/11/30 06:05 AM Guangxi Huayi DMC recycling project successfully started up. View Main Message 25^th Nov 2024, SINA, Reprinted from East China Science and Technology (ECEC). Recently, the DMC recovery project of Guangxi Huayi Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. was successfully started up and produced qualified high-grade DMC (dimethyl carbonate) products. This marks the complete success of the project from design, construction to production. Located at Qinzhou Port Economic and Technological Development Zone, The DMC recovery project is an important supporting project for the 200,000 tons/year ethylene glycol unit of Guangxi Energy Chemical Co., Ltd., consisting in constructing a DMC recovery unit to distill and purify DMC and methanol, with an output of 16,800 tons of premium dimethyl carbonate annually, and also recovering 23,256 tons of high-purity methanol annually, significantly improving resource utilization efficiency and promoting the development of the circular economy in the park. #dmc #dimethylcarbonate #methanol #huayi #energychemical #guangxi #china
Operations	Kokel, Nicolas HECC Guangxi Port 2024/11/29 09:39 AM Guangxi Huayi Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. and Gas Island Project in Qinzhou added. View Main Message Guangxi Huayi Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. and Gas Island Project in Qinzhou have been added. #guangxi #shanghai #china #huayi #energychemical #gasislandproject # coal #coalgasification #methanol #ethyleneglycol #meg #aceticacid #coaltochemicals #coaltomethanol #coaltoolefins
News	Kokel, Nicolas New Materials Turpan 2024/11/26 07:57 PM Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical's 1 million ton coal-to-methanol project. View Main Message Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical's 1 million ton coal-to-methanol project. Date: 2024-9-24 \| China Carbide Network News. On September 10, 2024, the Xinjiang Zhongtai New Materials Project substation constructed by the Xinjiang Branch of Sinochem Second Construction Group Co., Ltd. successfully received power for the first time, which was well received by all parties. The completion of this key node laid the foundation for the single-unit commissioning. The Xinjiang Zhongtai Resource Comprehensive Utilization Methanol Upgrading Demonstration Project mainly constructs 1 million tons / year methanol and 18,900 tons / year sulfuric acid production lines, as well as air separation units , gasification units, low-temperature methanol-washed synthesis gas purification units, methanol synthesis units and supporting units. The Xinjiang Zhongtai New Materials Resource Comprehensive Utilization Methanol Upgrading Demonstration Project is located in Tongxin Industrial Park, Alehui Town, Toksun County, Xinjiang. The planned total investment is about 5.99 billion yuan. The waste gas and screenings (coke powder and coal foam) produced by the semi-coke unit built by Zhongtai Group in Toksun County are used as raw materials to build a 1 million tons / year methanol project. The gasification unit is equipped with 3 Jinhua furnaces 3.0 , which mainly produce 286.331Nm3/h ( CO+H₂ ) of synthetic gas , with an annual operating time of 8,000 hours, 2 in operation and 1 in standby. #zhongtai #newmaterial #coaltomethanol #china #turpan #xinjiang #coal #methanol
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas DICP DMTO 2024/11/21 07:20 AM Placeholder for SYN® DMTO® (DICP) technology added. View Main Message A placeholder for SYN® DMTO® (DICP) technology has been added. Technology description to be developed here. #syntechnology #mto #dmto #methanoltoolefins
Finance	Kokel, Nicolas SYN 2024/11/21 07:13 AM SYN Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (DICP) added. View Main Message SYN Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (formerly DICP) is a technology company promoting DMTO (Direct Methanol To Olefin) proprietary technology. #dmto #mto #methanololefins #dicp #synenergy #shaanxi #dalian #xian #china
Operations	Kokel, Nicolas Jingbian Park 2024/11/21 05:36 AM Shaanxi Yanchang Coal Yulin Energy and Chemical and Jingbian production site added. View Main Message Shaanxi Yanchang Coal Yulin Energy and Chemical and Jingbian production site have been added. #jingbian #shaanxi #yulin #china #chinacoal #yulinenergy #yulinenergychemical #mto #methanoltoolefins #pollyethylene #polypropylene #methanol #fdd #catalyticcracking
Operations	Kokel, Nicolas Sailboat MTO 2024/08/10 05:10 PM Mass Balance initialized, MTO technology added. View Main Message MTO process and productions have been added to site and thus mass balance initialized. #mto #methanol #sailboat #petrochemical #olefins #ethylene #propylene
Technology	Kokel, Nicolas UOP Advanced MTO Process 2024/08/09 06:30 PM UOP Advanced MTO Process added View Main Message The UOP Advanced MTO Process has been added. #methanol #mto #olefins #ethylene #propylene