This Plastic Mega-Factory Is a $10 Billion Bet on a Single-Use Future
A world leader in virgin resins comes to Louisiana’s Cancer Alley with an unlimited vision for its products.
By the time the ribbon is cut in 2029 on the Sunshine Project, a $9.4 billion petrochemical plant under construction in rural Louisiana, single-use plastic bags will likely be restricted for most shoppers in the U.S. Right now there are bans, fees, and other rules on plastic for more than 1 in 5 Americans. Push that trend into the next decade, and you can imagine metal straws becoming commonplace, chicken breasts purchased without the tug of shrink wrap, and a generation unfamiliar with the touch of a Styrofoam cup.
Yet right there on the same timeline sits Sunshine. When ready to run, the2,400-acre complex owned by the Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group will be dedicated to production of polyethylene, polypropylene, and ethylene glycol. These virgin resins are used to make plastic products. Manufacturing will spread across 14 plants, all built to last.