Founding as a subsidiary (1920–1994)
An effect of World War I was a scarcity in raw materials such as photographic paper, optical glass, gelatin and many chemicals, including methanol, acetic acid and acetone. After the war ended, George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, began working to develop an independent supply of chemicals for his company's photographic processes. His search for suitable quantities of methanol and acetone led him to the southern United States.
In 1920, George Eastman founded Tennessee Eastman with two major platforms: organic chemicals and acetyls. Products such as calcium acetate, sodium acetate, acetic acid, and acetic anhydride were key. During World War II, RDX, a powerful explosive, was manufactured for the U.S. government at Holston Ordnance Works at Tennessee Eastman sites. At the peak of production near the end of the war, the plant was producing a million and a half pounds of explosives each day. Tennessee Eastman was responsible for managing the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which produced enriched uranium for the Manhattan Project, from 1943 to May 1947.
In 1960, there was an explosion in the Kingsport plant's aniline production, which killed 16 people and injured many more. In 1983, Eastman opened the first commercial coal gasification facility in the United States at its Kingsport plant site to produce chemicals from syngas rather than petroleum. The "Chemicals from Coal Facility" at the Kingsport plant was recognized in 1995 as a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society.[7]
Independent company (1994–present)
In 1994, the Eastman Chemical Company was spun off from Eastman Kodak and became an independent corporation. In early 2005, Eastman broke ground on the first world-scale manufacturing facility using IntegRex, a technology that reduces the number of intermediate process steps in producing PET resin. This technology is now owned by DAK Americas.
Since 2000, Eastman, and its many subsidiaries have paid more than $82 million in EPA fines. In July 2012, Eastman completed its acquisition of Solutia Inc., a manufacturer of performance materials and specialty chemicals, for $4.8 billion.[8] In December 2014, Eastman Chemical Company completed its acquisition of Taminco Corporation for $2.8 billion.[9]
On the morning of October 4, 2017, an explosion occurred at Eastman's Kingsport Plant around the coal gasification building.[10] In April 2018, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation determined the cause to be a valve blockage due to slurry or debris intrusion.[11]
Recycling
In 2019, Eastman began commercial-scale chemical recycling for a broad set of waste plastics that would otherwise be placed in a landfill or incinerated.[12][13] Eastman Advanced Circular Recycling technologies complement mechanical recycling by processing a wide spectrum of waste plastics that traditional recycling methods cannot, including polyesters, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. These waste plastics are derived from a variety of sources, including single-use plastics, textiles, and cuttings from discarded carpet.
Eastman claims that its recycling technologies - carbon renewal technology and polyester renewal technology - provide a true circular solution of infinite recycling for materials, allowing them to be reused repeatedly. Eastman began commercial operation of carbon renewal technology in October 2019 at the company's largest manufacturing facility in Kingsport, Tennessee. In 2020, Eastman will use carbon renewal technology to recycle millions of pounds of polyester carpet that would otherwise have been placed in a landfill.[14]
In January 2021, Eastman announced plans to build a methanolysis plant that will convert polyester waste into durable products.[15]
