With only 28% of plastic waste recycled in 2020, France remains below the European average. If this rate increases, the government’s objective of 100% in 2025 seems unrealistic in the eyes of players in the sector. Nevertheless, the colossal project of the American Eastman on French soil will add its stone to the building: the chemical group announced, Wednesday, March 30, the construction of a gigantic and innovative molecular recycling plant (160 000 tonnes per year) of polyester plastic waste in the Port-Jérôme 2 business park, located in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Folleville (Seine-Maritime), between Le Havre and Rouen.
It plans to invest 1 billion dollars (850 million euros) and generate 350 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs. The facility is expected to be operational by 2025 and will, according to the Tennessee-based multinational, “the largest material-to-material molecular recycling plant in the world”.
This foreign investment in France, as heavy as it is exceptional, was highlighted at the last Choose France summit in January, but its location remained uncertain. Eastman hesitated between three sites: Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, Le Havre and Saint-Avold, in the Grand-Est region. He finally opted for this part of Normandy industrialized for a long time by petrochemicals, convinced by the ecosystem of the sector combining logistical facilities (proximity to the river and the rail) and the rise of low-carbon energies, such as the enormous plant project of hydrogen led by Air Liquide.
“Several years of effort”
“This site provides the essential elements for the construction and operation of a facility of this magnitude”said Mark Costa, CEO of Eastman (14,000 employees worldwide and $10.5 million in revenue in 2021). “Like Eastman, Normandy has a vision and clear objectives to achieve a fully circular economy”, said the leader.
The president of the Normandy region, Hervé Morin (Les Centristes), for his part, welcomes this “second largest foreign investment in France over the last fifteen years, after the gigafactory [de production] batteries in Douai, in Hauts-de-France”. And to add: “ Eastman’s decision is no accident. This is the result of several years of efforts to strengthen operational support for foreign companies, but also the result of the region’s emphasis on the sustainable nature of new industrial facilities. »
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