Middle Georgia Chosen For Site Of New Plastic Recycling Facility
A California company with the trademark goal of helping consumers “Reimagine Waste,” today announced that they plan to invest almost $1 billion to build a plastic recycling facility in Middle Georgia.
San Francisco-based Brightmark announced that the company has chosen Thomaston as the site of a new 2.5 million-square-foot facility that will have the capacity to recycle over 400,000 tons of plastic per year.
Construction is scheduled to begin on the new facility, which Brightmark calls a Circularity Center, in 2025 with completion scheduled for 2027. The Brightmark plant will be a boost for Thomaston and Upson County both in terms of new employment and new infrastructure.
The Georgia Circularity Center will create 200 jobs with an average salary over $50,000, and Brightmark will also invest $20 million in local infrastructure improvements including utilities, roadways, and rail access extensions.
Thomaston Celebrates On Eve of 200th Anniversary
Brightmark Founder & CEO Bob Powell is a Georgia native, a fact that was mentioned in the press release and probably helped the company’s negotiations with state and local officials. Still, the selection of Peach State was not without obstacles and opposition.
The AJC’s J. Scott Trubey writes that Brightmark received community pushback in Macon where the facility was initially going to be located. Powell says those were public misperceptions that his plant would produce diesel fuel and burn plastics…neither of which is true.
Unlike Macon and Bibb County, the community and officials in Thomaston voiced little opposition to the new plant and are celebrating both the announcement and the fact that construction will begin in 2025 when the city celebrates the 200th anniversary of its founding.
“We are pleased to welcome Brightmark to the Thomaston-Upson County business community. As Thomaston approaches the 200th anniversary of our founding, we look to the future and welcome business partners like Brightmark who are focused on building upon the economic stability and urban growth this town has always been known for.” – Thomaston Mayor J.D. Stallings
Brightmark Expanding Recycling Facilities Nationwide
Brightmark describes the company’s Circularity Centers as facilities that are “designed to be highly efficient, with state-of-the-art equipment that allows them to process waste quickly and effectively. They are also designed to be flexible, handle a wide range of waste streams, and adjust to changing market demands.”
The company classifies each Circularity Center as one of two types of facilities:
- Organics: Centers built to help dairy farmers “realize financial and environmental benefits from our technology”
- Plastics: Centers that take a circular approach by recycling plastic waste into new materials and prevent plastics from being incinerated or piling up in landfills.
Brightmark currently operates 23 Dairy Circularity Centers nationwide and has 3 Plastics Circularity Centers currently under development in Ashley, Indiana; New South Wales, Australia; and now Thomaston, Georgia.
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