Eastman Chemical Co. announced Thursday that a $375 million federal grant previously targeted for its Longview complex has been reinstated. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the grant to Eastman in 2024, during the Biden administration. The money was meant to help build a $1 billion plastics recycling facility in Longview. The grant was canceled in May 2025 by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency.
The planned plant would use a process called methanolysis to break down and recycle plastic. In August 2025, company officials said the Longview project would be on hold because of the loss of federal funding. Eastman already operates a methanolysis facility in Kingsport, Tennessee, where the company is headquartered. Company officials did not say whether the Longview facility would be built.
Company spokeswoman Kristin Parker said in an emailed statement that Longview "remains under consideration as a potential location for a second U.S. methanolysis facility." Parker said the project scope has changed, and that the company's approach begins with increasing output at the Kingsport facility.