Alabama-based company plans to employ 30 at former Thomson site in Marion
Melissa Vogt, Chronicle-Tribune
An Alabama startup that makes petroleum out of used plastics plans to start a $13 million operation inside the former Thomson factory.
GenAgain Technologies of Tuscaloosa hopes to be in full production in Marion by December, founder Robin Curtis said Thursday.
The company expects to employ about 30 people initially, most of them semi-skilled workers, he said. Up to 50 temporary jobs could be created while GenAgain prepares the space inside Thomson, 3301 S. Adams St., for its machinery.
GenAgain says it has lined up suppliers for the waste plastics needed for production and is negotiating with Hoosier refiners that would buy the petroleum it will produce in Marion.
Marion could be the company’s first operational facility, although another site in Atlanta is also under development.
At full capacity, GenAgain in Marion could pump out 180 barrels of petroleum per day, Curtis said.
The city’s existing relationship with gear manufacturing startup Vela Gear Systems paved the way for GenAgain to consider Marion.
GenAgain’s financial consultant is the same team helping Vela.
“They convinced us to take a more serious look at Marion,” Curtis said.
GenAgain plans to invest about $13 million, including $8 million of equipment, to set up shop in Marion, City Development Director Darren Reese said.
According to Reese, the city built credibility with Vela’s financial team, which encouraged them to talk up Marion to GenAgain.
“We are able to show that we do what we say,” Reese said.
GenAgain plans to lease about 50,000 square feet inside the Thomson site, which falls within an area marked for redevelopment.
The company’s proposal is on the agenda for the Marion Redevelopment Commission’s 3:30 p.m. Monday meeting. The commission’s actions could start the formal process to assemble economic incentives for the company, such as tax-increment financing.
GenAgain did not develop the industrial process through which it can convert No. 3 through 7 plastics — without having to be sorted or cleaned — into petroleum, Curtis said.
The company is licensing the technology from the developer, which has operated for about two years in Oregon, he said
Making petroleum this way costs about $50 per barrel and prevents tons of plastic from winding up in landfills, Curtis said.
“We solve people’s waste problems,” he said.
Before forming GenAgain last year, Curtis worked 15 years in recycling and waste management services. He was dismayed to see how much plastic ended up in the ground.
The petroleum produced is high-quality and best suited for refining into gasoline and diesel fuel or motor lubricants, Curtis said. The company is already in negotiations with an Indiana refinery.
Crude oil prices were above $112 per barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The company can create 60 to 70 barrels of petroleum for every 10 tons of plastic it processes, Curtis said. GenAgain would need to process 30 tons of plastic each day in Marion to run at capacity of 180 barrels daily, he said.
GenAgain already has contracts lined up with industrial companies in Indiana that can supply 18 to 20 tons per day of waste plastics, Curtis said.
GenAgain plans to lease inside the former Thomson site, which also houses TriEnda, which manufactures plastic palettes for shipping. Efforts to reach TriEnda officials were not successful.
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