ExxonMobil redoubles commitment to advanced recycling in Baytown

ExxonMobil's advanced recycling unit in Baytown is just a year old, and the company is already planning another unit. The second unit is part of a plan to expand global plastic waste processing capacity to more than 1 billion pounds by 2027. The additional production will help meet growing demand for certified circular plastics from companies working to achieve sustainability goals.

"This is a big step forward in increasing capacity," said Ray Mastroleo, market development manager for advanced recycling at ExxonMobil. The installation is expected to start in 2025.

The first unit starts up in December 2022 and is one of the largest of its kind in North America. As of March 2024, the company had processed more than 45 million pounds (22,000 metric tons) of discarded plastic.

"As we scaled the department, we evaluated what was working and what needed to be done better. These lessons learned will be applied to future advanced recycling facilities around the world. Our customers' interest in certified round plastic far exceeded our ability to supply it, so we nearly doubled the amount of plastic we can process by increasing reliability," Mastroleo said.