Major Investment, Jobs For Carroll County

The president of GEP Fuel & Energy Indiana says two new facilities set to be constructed in Carroll County will use groundbreaking technology to convert plastics into diesel fuel. Stephen Hogan says the company will invest between $300 and $410 million to build a recycling center and plastics-to-renewable diesel refinery in Camden, creating up to 256 jobs by 2020. Construction on the two facilities is expected to begin early next year.

Hogan says the recycling facility is the result of a partnership between GEP and Ohio-based U.S. Energy Logistics. The nearly 450,000 square-foot facility will employ up to 165 workers by 2020. 

Hogan says the recycling facility, which will be known as Camden Recycling LLC, will receive about 40 rail cars of waste plastic per day. The plastic will be washed, sorted and separated in the facility. Some of the recyclable plastic will be sold back to plastics manufacturers that can reuse it with the rest going to the second facility being constructed in Camden.

The diesel refinery, which will be known as Integrated Green Partners LLC, will be built next to the recycling center. That facility will take the non-recyclable plastics and convert them into about 75-percent ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and about 25 percent high-quality gasoline blend. 

Hogan says, once the refinery is operational, it will be able to produce about 100 million gallons of diesel fuel and 30 million gallons of gasoline blend annually. The refinery will employ 91 workers by the end of 2018.

Camden was chosen after GEP considered sites in Texas and Pennsylvania for the facilities. Hogan says the local work force was a major contributing factor to locating in Carroll County.

"We’re looking for a work force that we’re going to have to train because this is pretty groundbreaking technology," said Hogan. "We’ll be putting significant training dollars into our work force and our feeling was that, in that particular area, we love the work ethic and we felt like if we do a proper job of training our people and pay them a very competitive wage, they’re likely to stay with us."

Hogan added the city’s location to rail service and Indiana’s competitive business environment were also factors in decided to locate in Camden. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered GEP up to $2 million in performance-based tax incentives. Additional tax abatements from Carroll County are awaiting approval following a public hearing next month.