KINGSPORT – Eastman is looking at textiles as a key raw material for its newly announced US$250 million plastic-to-plastic recycling facility that will rely on ‘polyester and carbon renewal technology’ to boost its use of recycled raw materials in its ‘Renew’ branded polymers.
The new plant initially aims to use over 100,000 metric tons of ‘plastic waste’ per year that cannot currently be recycled using mechanical methods. These specialty recycled polymers will then be used in the packaging, automotive and textile sectors.
Eastman CEO Mark J. Costa confirmed in a call earlier this week that the recycled end product will be used in its branded products. He told investors: “There will be Naia Renew in textiles and a series of other products. For cosmetic packaging, that’ll be Cristal Renew ... Nalgene and CamelBak are already marketing its Tritan brand in that way already.”
The polyester recycling technology is based on ‘methanolysis’ which has been around for a while and was in the past used by Kodak, to re-process film for pre-digital cameras. The CEO also said, in a call with investors, that its technology allows it to use textiles as a raw material source for its product.
