ExxonMobil announced its plans last week to invest over $200 million to expand its advanced recycling operations in Texas.

According to a company statement, the new facilities will be located at its Baytown and Beaumont sites and begin operations in 2026.

The petrochemical giant plans to build additional units to reach a global recycling capacity of 1 billion pounds annually by 2027.

“We are solutions providers, and this multi-million-dollar investment will enhance our ability to convert hard-to-recycle plastics into raw materials that produce valuable new products,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions.

“At our Baytown site, we’ve proven advanced recycling works at scale, which gives us confidence in our ambition to provide the capacity to process more than 1 billion pounds of plastic annually around the world.”

The investment will add 350 million pounds per year of advanced recycling capacity at Baytown and Beaumont, bringing ExxonMobil’s total capacity to 500 million pounds annually.

The company is continuing to develop additional advanced recycling projects at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe and Asia to reach 1 billion pounds per year of recycling capacity globally by 2027.

The demand for advanced recycling, which complements traditional mechanical recycling, is growing globally. Unlike mechanical recycling, advanced methods can handle a broader range of plastic waste, transforming it into raw materials for products such as fuels, lubricants, and high-performance chemicals.

“The world’s plastic waste challenge will be solved with innovation, collaboration, and supportive government policy to improve waste management and circularity,” said McKee. “ExxonMobil is doing its part by developing scalable technology, investing in recycling infrastructure and helping our customers meet their circularity goals.”

The company’s first Baytown facility started in 2022 and represents one of North America’s largest advanced recycling facilities, having processed more than 70 million pounds of plastic waste as of October 2024.

ExxonMobil also formed a joint venture, Cyclyx, in 2021 to improve the collection and sortation of plastic waste.