February 20, 2026 13:49

France’s Council of State (Conseil d’État) has rejected an appeal filed by four environmental associations against a 2024 decree-law that classified Eastman’s chemical recycling project in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine (Normandy) as an initiative of major national interest (“projet d’intérêt national majeur”).

The decree amends certain planning and environmental rules to facilitate the siting of industrial plants deemed to have strong environmental value across France.

In dismissing the appeal, the Conseil d’État confirmed that the sectors covered by the measure—including recycling—are clearly defined and relevant to decarbonization, and consistent with the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and national circular economy rules.

Once operational, the Saint-Jean-de-Folleville plant, near Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, will recycle polyester-based waste through depolymerization to produce intermediates used to manufacture PET and polyester resins.
When the project was announced four years ago, it envisaged a two-phase start-up, with an initial processing capacity of 110,000 tonnes per year, to be expanded to 200,000 tonnes per year, and total investment exceeding €1 billion. Commissioning, initially planned for this year, is likely to be postponed to 2027/2028, according to reports in some French media.

Eastman started up a similar facility in Kingsport, Tennessee, in 2024, while a third PET depolymerization unit is expected to be built in Texas in the coming years.

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