May 12—POINT TOWNSHIP — Members of the community on Wednesday night had a chance to meet with company officials who are building a $1.1 billion manufacturing facility along Route 11 in Point Township to facilitate the recycling of plastics.

The three-hour open house with Encina, based near Houston, Texas, was held at the American Legion Post 44 along Route 11 and featured information about the state-of-the-art plant, the only one of its kind in the nation. It would use advanced, proven technologies to convert recycled plastic materials into a raw product that could be used by other manufacturers to create thousands of new plastic-type products.

"This is an open house for the community so they can come in and ask their questions, voice their concerns and get real answers from the experts we have," said David Roesser, chief executive officer of Encina. "It's about being transparent about what we're doing and giving people the opportunity to ask the questions they have."

If the company receives all state and local permitting approvals, the Point Township Circular Manufacturing Facility will be built on land between Route 11 and the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, near the existing Strong Industries plant, and eventually would create 300 full-time jobs.

Roesser said people have questions about environmental impacts.

"We are going to meet and/or exceed the regulations that the state, federal and local (officials) require so there won't be any issues around air, or water, or anything like that with this plant," he said.

Citizen reactions

Rhonda Preutzman, of Point Township, said she heard about the proposed site at the Point Township meeting on Tuesday and came out for an hour to the American Legion to learn more. She said she used to work in regulatory compliance.

"I spent about two hours researching last night, a lot of what I saw tonight," she said. "That made me want to come tonight and I talked to a few folks here, and left a card with comments."

Preutzman said she likes the idea of new industry coming to the area. She recently moved back to Point Township in 2017, having lived in York since the 1990s.

"I'm interested in what the community has to offer," she said. "I feel like any new industry might be good. They're large enough, expanding enough, and it's a good purpose. I think they'd be a good industry to bring here. However, I am a little worried about the public view and I'm concerned about the environmental impacts on wells, drinking water, the Susquehanna River, and air quality."

Preutzman said there are "advantages and concerns."

"I wish we had more resources to research it and find out more about it," she said.

She said she will "absolutely" be following along with the company's progress.

Joe Kremer, of Point Township, was another resident who came out on Wednesday night.

"It's what the area needs," said Kremer. "Industry with good-paying jobs. With Merck going out maybe some of those folks can find a job there."

Kremer is referring to Merck announcing in March that it's closing its Cherokee Plant in Riverside in 2024. More than 300 full-time workers will be affected by the closure.

Plant information

The plant is expected to process 450,000 tons of recyclable plastic materials each year, diverting plastic recyclables from landfills and away from incinerators. That is enough plastic material to fill an NFL dome-covered stadium each year. The facility would reduce the need to produce brand new plastic from oil and gas resources by providing a raw material that can be used to make new plastic-type products — in essence, creating a circular, sustainable product cycle.

"It means we didn't have to get that amount of material out of fossil fuels to make new plastic every year," said Roesser. "It intercepts a lot of these materials from going to landfills, or incinerators, or other places where they can get into the environment and other things."

Encina has been working for eight years to create the technology. There is a process development unit in San Antonio, Texas, but this will be the first commercial venture for Encina in the world. The Point Township facility will serve as a "center of excellence" for additional sites — three more in North America, one in Asia and one in Latin America, said Roesser.

The construction of the facility alone is projected to inject more than $2.1 billion into the local and state economies over the next five years, according to an analysis by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association. Construction is expected to take about 24 months and employ about 750 construction workers. Construction is expected to begin this fall with the plant fully operational by the fall of 2024.

Roesser said the goal is to pay good salaries and help develop careers in order to attract and retain employees.

Before construction begins, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and several other agencies will thoroughly review building and operational plans before issuing the necessary permits.

Why Point Township?

Roesser said Point Township was selected for a number of reasons.

"This is an area that has a history of industrial workforce. There are a lot of different skillsets on an industrial scale that we need for our plant," said Roesser. "There are a lot of good technology universities in the area. There's Bucknell, there's Pennsylvania College of Technology, some of the community colleges around here where we can start building a pipeline for people working for us long-term."

Roesser said the proximity of Point Township to major urban areas is another plus for Point Township.

"We need to be within a certain distance of our raw materials," he said. "Those raw materials are found in large urban areas. Regionally, you're within a few hours of Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Scranton, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, all these places where we can draw raw material for our plant."

The site also has access to rail and water.

Roesser also praised DRIVE (Driving Real Innovation for a Vibrant Economy), an economic development council serving Northumberland, Union, Snyder, Montour and Columbia counties.