A small town in Georgia could be the new home to a plastics plant. Residents are divided

The gargantuan 21st century plastic problem is growing because in the U.S. less than 6% of plastic gets recycled and 9.5% of people participate in recycling, according to a 2022 report by Beyond Plastics.

And, plastic production has exponentially risen since it’s cultural presence started in 1950. It has gone from 2.2 million tons annually to 506 million tons.

Cumulatively there are 10.4 billion tons of plastic on this planet, Our World in Data report highlights.

But a California-based company thinks it has the solution by using what has been called “advanced recycling,” “chemical recycling,” or “pyrolisis.”

Essentially, it relies on turning plastic back into it’s original form of oil.

The process involves taking plastic waste that is then broken down into smaller pieces, heated, and converted into oil. That oil will get bought by a plastics company to create more plastic.

“Producers of plastic have to source virgin fossil fuels,” Bob Powell, the CEO of Brightmark, the plastic remaking company said. “The liquid pyrolysis oil is used to fully remake plastics This is a fully circular solution. The oil will be used to make back into plastics.”

In April, Brightmark, which has been operating a pyrolysis plant in Ashley, Indiana, for two years, announced its plans to open a second U.S. plant in Upson County, about an hour west of Macon and an hour northeast of Columbus.

The company has pitched a $950 million dollar investment to create a massive, 2.5 million square-foot, plastic-to-oil center, the Thomaston Circularty Center. Some of the 7,000 Thomaston residents are embracing and and welcoming the plant with open arms.

Others are forming coalitions and hiring environmental lawyers to ward off the company altogether.

“We’ve had overwhelming support from the business community in Thomaston,” Powell said.

Thomaston Mayor J.D. Stalling and the city’s Industrial Development Authority chairman, Chase Fallin support the plant, saying it will create jobs and grow the community.

“We are pleased to welcome Brightmark to the Thomaston-Upson County business community,” said Stallings“...We look to the future with Brightmark who are focused on building upon the economic stability and urban growth this town has always been known for.”

In 2022, Brightmark attempted to open a pyrolysis facility in Macon, but out of concerns for pollution and actualizing the promised product, Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller did not support the company and rejected the $500 million dollar bond Brightmark offered the community.

The two year old, 120,000 square foot plant in Indiana has had several employees complain about safety and employee health. In 2021 oil at the plant spilled and caught fire. But Powell said it was a lesson learned and just “minutes out of years” of operation.

Environmental Coalition Created

The rejection by Macon and the problems from the Ashley plant are what caused former Upson County Commission Chairman Rusty Blackston to be concerned about Brightmark coming to Thomaston.

“The Development Authority in Thomaston only sees dollar signs because our community has been financially suffering for so many years,” he said.

What concerns him most is the industry is new and “evolving right now. “They’re learning about this process every day and I don’t want our community to be the testing grounds for environmental hazards.”

Last Friday, Blackston and the Georgia Water Coalition plastic committee created a new coalition, Upson Environmental & Government Transparency LLC.

Blackston, interested in trying to slowing the process, realized that forming an Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) would be helpful in being represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center. There are about 25 people in the Upson Environmental and Government Transparency LLC.

Blackston added that during many of the public meetings with Powell and other Blrightmark representatives, their responses to questions have been “I don’t know”.

Powell acknowledged that one of the mistakes the company made when trying to come to Macon was a lack of transparency and is working to communicate with the people of Thomaston on a weekly basis. He also is excited about the $879 million dollar bond that would benefit the community.

“We should have been more explicit in Macon,” he said. In May, Powell did a Q & A with the local Upson Beacon, saying this is how they are engaging.

Of the nearly billion dollar investment, Brightmark promises $20 million toward building the local economy through infrastructure like utilities, roads, rail access, and other resources, according to their April press release. The Thomaston Circularity Center will add 200 advanced manufacturing jobs.

The facility will turn 400,000 tons of plastic waste into the pyrolysis oil. That oil is shipped by truck or rail to Louisiana for plastic companies to convert the oil into plastic.

Blackston said he is concerned about the CO2 emissions Brightmark will put out into his Thomaston community..

Pollution solution or environmental hazard?

Brightmark CEO described the plant operations in detail with the Ledger-Enquirer to demystify the process and put the plastic incineration rumors to rest.

Either by rail or truck the company will source 800 million pounds of plastic from the Blue Ridge Mountain area and bring it into the facility. (The Columbus Recycling Center manages about 10,000 tons or 233 million pounds of plastic annually)

“You’d recognize car seats, medical equipment, and other big plastic pollution,” he said. “But all of this is covered, there is no eyesore.”

The plastics get broken down into pellets, then they are converted from a solid to a liquid. “They are not incinerated,” he said. “I will not allow incineration at my plant.”

The solids are heated and it creates a vapor in the piping system, which “will not escape into the atmosphere. Natural gas is used to heat up the conversation vessel and that is what creates emissions.”

But Powell said his plant creates the same amount of emissions from a medium-sized hospital.

The company will have to apply for a Synthetic Minor Source Emitter permit from the Georgia Environmental Protection Department, once they reach that stage in their process. But, they will not have to apply for a solid waste handling permit per the 2018 HB 785, according to Georgia Water Coalition.

Plus, Powell said, they will not release any wastewater into the environment. It will be treated in their facility with a patented “Zero Liquid Discharge” system, and therefore the only pollution that remains is the emissions.

The installation for the Zero Liquid Discharge system started in Ashley recently. Prior to that they did have a wastewater discharge permit that Powell said they met.

The entire gasification process concerns Jennette Gayer, the director of an an environmental group called Environment Georgia.

“Gasification generates especially large amount of CO2,” she said. “The actual pyrolysis process is toxic. All plastic is made from oil or methane gases, fuels produced by plastic-to-fuel processes are still fossil fuels, and therefore release greenhouse gases when burned, in addition to the emissions released during the conversion process itself.”

Any week a vote will take place whereby the Thomaston Industrial Development Authority will decide on the $879 million dollar bond to move forward with construction.

In the meantime, Blackstan is waiting to hear from his lawyers at Southern Environmental Law Centers about next steps and said his LLC will meet next week.