Rumpke, Eastman partner to expand PET recycling

Rumpke Waste & Recycling and specialty materials company Eastman have partnered to address the global plastic waste crisis.

Later this year, Cincinnati-based Rumpke will begin collecting and sorting hard-to-recycle and colored polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging—materials the company says largely are unaddressed in today’s recycling ecosystem—and providing 100 percent of this material stream as feedstock for Kingsport, Tennessee-based Eastman’s molecular recycling process.

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For its part, Eastman says it will turn this material stream into virgin-quality polyesters with its molecular recycling technology to be used across a range of packaging applications and to expand the circular economy for polyesters.

“The world is currently grappling with a significant problem, with a large portion of plastic waste either not being collected for recycling or considered nonrecyclable by traditional methods,” Rumpke Director of Recycling Jeff Snyder says. “This partnership creates a new market for hard-to-recycle colored and opaque waste that is not currently recycled today.”

According to the partners, colored and opaque PET is used across a range of consumer applications, including personal care and cosmetic packaging, detergent and soap packaging and various dairy and food packaging. Historically, the companies say many of these applications have been unable to transition to fully circular packaging. Through Rumpke’s investment in innovation processing and Eastman’s molecular recycling technology, the companies say their partnership will enable circularity for many applications and divert material from incineration or landfill.

The companies add that by harnessing the power of innovation, they are keeping fossil resources in the ground and contributing to a more sustainable future while setting an example for the industry and demonstrating the importance of collaboration in achieving true circularity.

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“Rumpke and Eastman are both committed to innovative approaches to reducing plastic waste through collaboration,” says Brad Lich, Eastman executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “This partnership reinforces the complementary nature of molecular and mechanical recycling to keep more raw materials in the circular economy, enabling brands to meet their recycled content goals.”

The announcement comes as Eastman nears the startup of its material-to-material molecular recycling facility at its Kingsport site. Set to begin shipping its first products in the coming weeks, Eastman says its Kingsport plant will recycle 110,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle plastic scrap annually.