ExxonMobil will invest more than $200 million to expand chemical recycling capacity at its sites in Baytown and Beaumont, Texas.
The oil and gas giant said it plans to add new pyrolysis units at the sites, increasing capacity by 350 million pounds per year and bringing its total annual capacity to 500 million pounds. ExxonMobil aims to reach 1 billion pounds per year of recycling capacity globally by 2027.
Currently, the Baytown chemical recycling site is capable of processing 40,000 metric tons of mixed plastic waste per year. The facility started operations in 2022 and has since processed 70 million pounds (32,000 tonnes) of plastic waste using pyrolysis technology.
ExxonMobil’s operations at the Beaumont site currently include crude oil refinement and polyethylene production, among others. The company had previously disclosed it was considering adding chemical recycling operations to the site.
“We are solutions providers, and this multi-million-dollar investment will enhance our ability to convert hard-to-recycle plastics into raw materials that produce valuable new products,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil product solutions. “At our Baytown site, we’ve proven chemical recycling works at scale, which gives us confidence in our ambition to provide the capacity to process more than 1 billion pounds of plastic per year around the world. We’re proud of this proprietary technology and the role it can play in helping establish a circular economy for plastics and reducing plastic waste.”
The investment comes two months after California sued ExxonMobill for allegedly misleading the public about plastics recycling.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta claims the company has "engaged in a decades-long campaign of deception that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis," the state said in announcing the lawsuit.
Bonta wants the court to order ExxonMobil to create and fund an abatement program and order the company to stop all allegedly deceptive statements regarding plastics operations. This includes "referring to its operations and products by the terms 'advanced recycling,' 'chemical recycling,' ;circular,' 'certified circular polymers' and 'recyclable,' "the lawsuit states.
The attorney general also seeks the company to protect against and prevent further pollution, impairment and destruction of natural resources. The lawsuit further seeks a litany of civil penalties.
ExxonMobil issued a short reaction to the lawsuit, essentially telling the state of California not to blame the company for its own misdeeds.
Plastics News Staff Jim Johnson contributed to this article.
