Jim Fitterling
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at DOW
Thank you, Howard. Turning to Slide 8. We continue to advance on our Decarbonize & Grow strategy, which we expect will deliver greater than $3 billion in additional run rate EBITDA, while reducing our carbon emissions by 30% by 2030. As a reminder, our path to decarbonize our footprint and grow earnings is a phased site-by-site approach that both retrofits and replaces end of life assets with low carbon emission facilities, while also expanding our capacity. This plan will deliver a 30% reduction in our CO2 emissions between 2005 and 2030 through a disciplined approach based on affordability, macro and regulatory drivers around the world.
As a progress update, we continue to invest in renewable energy with access to more than 900 megawatts now. We're also making asset efficiency improvements and investing in innovative carbon efficient technologies like electric cracking and carbon capture. Recently, we announced the start up of an e-cracking research scale unit in the Netherlands that represents a key milestone in our joint technology program.
Engineering and development efforts are ongoing for our plan to build the world's first ever net zero carbon emissions ethylene cracker and derivatives complex in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, with formal resource loading, vendor selection, and project investment decisions by year-end, all on track. And work is underway to develop detailed plans to reduce CO2 emissions at our sites in both Europe and in the Americas. These projects collectively demonstrate Dow's leadership in the transition to a sustainable world while driving underlying earnings growth.
To that end, on Slide 9, while we decarbonize, we also continue to invest in higher return, faster payback projects, capture our efficiency levers, and capitalize on long-term growth opportunities including circularity. In the near-term, our in-flight investments remain on track to deliver an incremental underlying EBITDA run rate of approximately $2 billion by year-end 2025, which includes approximately $300 million of run rate EBITDA in 2022, with growth levers across each of our operating segments. For example, in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, our 150 kilotons FCDh pilot plant in Louisiana is expected to start up in the fourth quarter of this year.
In Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, Our alkoxylates capacity investments are on track to start up in the second half of this year. And in Performance Materials & Coatings, we completed two debottlenecking projects and two growth projects in the second quarter with nine additional projects expected to be complete by year-end. Importantly, circularity is also a key enabler of our growth strategy as brand owners and our customers increasingly demand more circular solutions. We are leveraging our more than 20 strategic partnerships globally, as we accelerate our circular product capabilities and technologies to meet this demand.
Today, we announced a series of circularity projects including a plan with our existing partner Mura Technology to construct multiple world scale advanced recycling facilities in the United States and Europe. These projects will add up to 600,000 tons per year of plastic waste recycling capacity by 2030, representing Dow's largest commitment to-date to scale advanced recycling. As a major off-taker, Dow's capacity in circular polymer products will expand significantly as we utilized recycled plastic feedstock to produce new virgin grade and 100% circular derivatives serving fast growing brand owner needs across our market verticals.
In parallel, we continue to accelerate our mechanical recycling capabilities through partnerships like the one we announced today with French recycling company, Valoregen, to build the largest single hybrid recycling site in France. Dow will be the main recipient of its post-consumer recycled resins for our Revolut PCR product range, which recently received certification for plastics recycling traceability and content in Europe. These collaborations will support approximately two-thirds of Dow's 2030 target to enable 1 million metric tons of plastic to be collected, reused and recycled.
In addition, our efficiency levers are on track to deliver roughly $600 million of run rate EBITDA from our restructuring program and digital investments by year-end 2025. In 2022, we expect these investments to deliver a run rate EBITDA of $50 million to $100 million. We already achieved the full run rate benefits from our 2020 Restructuring Program at the end of 2021 and we will see run rate benefits from our digital investments ramping up over the next few years.
For example, we've accelerated modernizing and automating our warehouse management systems and we improved our supply chain planning processes using new digital capabilities, enabling us to consolidate multiple customer shipments, lower costs and reduce our carbon emissions. We also improved the customer experience through enhanced real-time delivery tracking capabilities across all modes of product shipping. These digitalization improvements are particularly valuable when global supply chains are as dynamic as they are today.
Moving to Slide 10, Dow is well positioned to generate resilient cash flows and deliver value across a variety of economic environments. This reflects our approach to manage the business with more agility and efficiency, operate with the best owner mindset, and continue to ensure accountability transparency and a disciplined and balanced approach to capital allocation. Our three-year average EBITDA is now at more than $9 billion, driven by our early industry cycle growth investments and efficiency programs that have collectively raised our underlying earnings above pre-pandemic levels, as well as improved our cost position versus the previous cycle. We nearly tripled our three-year trailing cumulative free cash flow since spin.
With respect to the balance sheet, we have reduced gross debt by more than $6 billion in spend with a target ratings agency leverage ratio of 2 times to 2.5 times, compared to 2.5 times to 3 times at spin. All of our debt is fixed rate, with less than $1 billion of maturities due over the next five years, which represents a reduction of approximately $7 billion in near-term debt maturities since spin. Our underfunded pension status now stands at approximately $3 billion, less than half of where it was at spin. The significant progress we've made has been reflected in our credit ratings, including a recent upgrade from Moody's and positive outlook revisions from Fitch and S&P.
With ample cash generation, we remain focused on executing our value creating Decarbonize & Grow strategy, while continuing to deliver attractive shareholder remuneration. To that point, we completed our previous share repurchase program in the second quarter and initiated our new $3 billion program aligned with our target of returning 65% of operating net income to shareholders over the economic cycle. As Dow looks ahead, our strong cash flow, balance sheet and attractive growth prospects collectively enabled increased optionality, to remain agile through a variety of economic environments, and continue to deliver value for all of our stakeholders.
With that, I'll turn it back to Pankaj to open up the Q&A.