Eastman launches community waste plastic recycling program

        Eastman and regional grocer Food City recently officially launched a new store, recycling, and reused plastic recycling program in Kingsport, Tennessee.

        3,000 pounds of plastic recycled in first month

        The Eastman team worked with counterparts at Food City to bring plastic recycling to Kingsport. Keeney, Eastman’s circular economy program lead, said the early response from the community has been overwhelming in the first month. “We’ve collected a ton of plastic so far — 3,000 pounds in the first month,” she said.

        Plastics Recycling Program Operations

        Kingsport’s three Food City stores have large recycling bins clearly labeled with “Store,” “Recycle,” “Reuse,” and a QR code that connects to a website with recycling locations, demonstration videos, FAQs, and more.

        Eastman will use a variety of hard-to-recycle plastic packaging to feed its new molecular recycling facility in Kingsport, one of the largest in the world.

        Using Eastman’s New Molecular Recycling Facility

        The new molecular recycling facility’s features make “Shop, Recycle, Repeat” possible. Still, Eastman’s facility recycles so much plastic that the items collected in Food City’s bins are essentially a drop in the ocean. Eastman’s new recycling plant can process more than 110,000 tons of plastic per year, the equivalent of 11 billion single-use water bottles.

        “If we collected 100% of the plastic in the nine counties of northeast Tennessee in a year, it would run our facility for 12 days,” Keeney said. “It’s not a significant driver in terms of Eastman’s feedstock needs, but it’s important to the community. That’s what I remember from my visit to the recycling plant at Food City. After the tour, Food City and Eastman leaders sat around a table and said, ‘Whatever it takes, we need to do this for the community.’ ” "With more Food City recycling locations to be added in the future, this project is a prime example of Eastman's commitment to promoting community recycling partnerships.

        Providing waste plastic recycling options for rural communities

        The pilot phase of this project will not only help communities play a role in reversing the plastic waste crisis, but also provide lessons that Eastman and Food City can apply elsewhere.

          “What’s remarkable about this program is that as it expands to more Food City stores, we can make a difference not only in this community, but in other communities as well,” Keeney said. “We’ll be able to provide recycling options to rural communities that otherwise would never have the opportunity because it’s not economically sustainable for some cities.”

        Brad Leach, Eastman’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, reiterated an important point. Innovations like Eastman Molecular Recycling are essential for positive change, but technology alone is not enough. It takes partnerships — like the one between Eastman and Food City — to provide our society with a waste plastic recycling system fit for the modern era.