Harshbarger Helps Bring Back $375 Million DOE Award for Eastman's Kingsport Recycling Expansion

Kingsport, TN - Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) today applauded the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) decision to reinstate a $375 million award to Kingsport-based Eastman, following her work with DOE leadership to restore the funding. The award will expand Eastman's commercial-scale methanolysis recycling facility in Kingsport and strengthen America's domestic supply chain for recycled plastics.

"The Trump administration's commitment to American manufacturing is paying off for East Tennessee. Eastman has been the backbone of our local economy for more than a century, and its Kingsport plant is where this American technology was proven at commercial scale," said Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger. "I worked with the Department of Energy to make this award a smarter, more accountable investment in American manufacturing, and I'm grateful to Assistant Secretary Robertson and her team for their partnership. This decision will support the reindustrialization of a strategically important domestic recycled-plastics supply chain, which will bring more output, opportunity, and good-paying jobs to Tennessee's First Congressional District."

"We are grateful for Representative Harshbarger's steadfast commitment to helping Eastman work with the DOE to reinstate the award funding," said Mark Costa, Eastman Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). "Her leadership reflects a shared priority: creating American jobs and strengthening the U.S. economy, starting right here in the region she calls home."

"The Department of Energy is proud to support this strategic investment in American ingenuity, industrial competitiveness, and the future of U.S. manufacturing," said Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson. "By expanding its proven, American-made recycling technology and putting underutilized assets back to work, Eastman is demonstrating how innovation can strengthen domestic manufacturing, revitalize existing industrial infrastructure, and build more resilient supply chains. DOE will continue to collaborate with private industry to make U.S. manufacturing the strongest in the world and grow jobs and economic prosperity."

The reinstated award totals $375 million, less roughly $35 million Eastman already received for design and engineering under the original agreement. Funding will be released in milestone-based phases tied to customer contracts. The updated project scope includes:

Founded in Kingsport in 1920, Eastman is headquartered in Tennessee's First Congressional District and serves as the largest employer in Kingsport. The company employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide and serves customers in more than 100 countries.

Eastman's methanolysis process breaks down hard-to-recycle polyester - colored and opaque plastics, pots, tubs, and trays that can't be mechanically recycled - into its molecular building blocks and reassembles them into virgin-quality, food-contact materials. Eastman expects the Kingsport facility to generate up to $100 million in incremental revenue growth in 2026 over 2025, and more than $100 million again in 2027.

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