$260 Million Ashley Plant Seen as Global ‘Showcase’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of San Francisco-based Brightmark Energy says the company’s plastics-to-fuel recycling operation in the tiny Steuben County town of Ashley will bring global attention to Indiana. The $260 million facility, which is currently under construction, is expected to employ more than 130 workers and open in late 2020. Bob Powell says the facility’s impact will go well beyond investment and jobs numbers. “We want to show the rest of the world that this can be done, that we can help solve the plastics problem and bring them here to Indiana, to Ashley, as a showcase,” said Powell.
Powell talked about the plant and reasons for selecting Indiana on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
Brightmark broke ground on the facility in May, touting plans to initially convert about 100,000 tons of plastics into more than 18 million gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel and naptha blend stocks, as well as nearly six million gallons of commercial grade wax annually.
Powell says BP will purchase the fuels produced by the facility and AM WAX will purchase the commercial grade waxes.
Brightmark looked at numerous locations for the investment, but settled on northeast Indiana in large part because of local and state support for the project. “When you locate a project that is this large, having a community behind you is an extremely important thing, said Powell. “I would say the business environment in Ashley, Steuben (county) and from the state of Indiana was really the deciding factor for us.”