How we're supporting chemical recycling

Too much plastic ends up as waste: chemical recycling could increase the amount of plastic that can be recycled.
ExxonMobil already carries out chemical recycling at our Baytown facility in Texas in the U.S.
We plan to expand our chemical recycling capacity globally.

Article

3 min read

• Sept. 20, 2024

Plastic recycling is key to transitioning to a more circular economy. At ExxonMobil, our focus on developing sustainable solutions that improve quality of life and meet society’s evolving needs includes investing in chemical recycling.

The technology transforms plastic waste into raw materials that can be used to make new products that are essential to modern life. This helps prevent plastic, including products that are normally hard to recycle, from going to incineration or landfill.

Our chemical recycling facility in Baytown, Texas in the U.S. has been up and running since December 2022. Already one of the largest facilities of its kind in North America, we’re planning to further increase its capacity. We’re also considering bringing our chemical recycling technology to Europe.

Learn more about how we are supporting chemical recycling below. You can also learn more about why we need chemical recycling, and why mass balance is key for chemical recycling.

Considerable capacity

Our chemical recycling facility in Baytown, Texas in the U.S. started production in December 2022. As of March 2024, it’s processed over 22,000 metric tons of plastic waste – the weight of about two Eiffel Towers.

Customer solutions

We’re transforming plastic waste into usable raw materials that can be attributed via mass balance to the certified-circular plastics we sell. This helps our customers meet goals to use more circular materials in their products.

Continuing to expand

We’re aiming to increase our global chemical recycling capacity to 500,000 metric tons of plastic waste a year by 2027. That includes plans to add a second unit at Baytown in 2025.

Plans for Europe

We’d like to bring our chemical recycling technology to Europe and are considering projects at our facilities in Antwerp and Rotterdam. Supportive policy from Europe’s governments could help make this a reality.