Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Eastman have partnered to help address the global plastic waste crisis. Later this year, Rumpke will begin collecting and sorting hard-to-recycle and coloured PET packaging waste, which are largely unaddressed in the current recycling ecosystem and will provide 100 percent of this waste stream as feedstock to Eastman's molecular recycling process. Eastman will then turn this waste 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 is considered non-recyclable by traditional methods," said Jeff Snyder, director of recycling at Rumpke. "This partnership creates a new market for hard-to-recycle coloured and opaque waste that is not currently recycled today."
Coloured and opaque PET is used across various consumer applications, including personal care and cosmetic packaging, detergent and soap packaging, and various dairy and food packaging. Historically many of these applications have been unable to transition to fully circular packaging. Through Rumpke's investment in processing and Eastman's molecular recycling technology, this partnership will enable circularity for many applications.
"Rumpke and Eastman are both committed to innovative approaches to reducing plastic waste through collaboration," said 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."
