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The Port Authority has signed a lease to bring a Canadian plastics company to Athens County

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Athens County Port Authority board has approved a lease with a Canadian plastics company to begin operations in an industrial building just outside The Plains.

Toronto-based CCC Plastics plans to manufacture extruded plastic pellets at the site. This will be the company’s first U.S. operation.

The company’s intentions to locate in Athens County drew opposition from many residents, who raised concerns about the health and safety and environmental risks associated with plastics.

Different colors of plastic pellets.
A Canadian company is in negotiations to lease a building in The Plains to make plastic pellets. Some local residents are worried about possible environmental impacts. [Adobe Stock]
Mollie Fitzgerald, executive director of the Athens County Economic Development Council, said the lease includes a section on environmental stewardship, but she is not at liberty to discuss this and other details until CCC signs the lease.

A fact sheet on the Port Authority’s website says the company will not be synthesizing plastics at the site, but instead will blend resins with pigments and additives to create the pellets. The pellets will be sold to other companies to make plastic products.

None of the substances CCC will use at the site are categorized as carcinogens by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Toxicology Program or the International Agency for Research on Cancer, according to the fact sheet. CCC’s operations also will not generate PFAS — known as forever chemicals and linked to cancer.

CCC’s manufacturing process will not be water intensive, according to the fact sheet, and cooling water will be continuously recirculated. Any water discharged can be sufficiently treated through the standard treatment process used by the county water and sewer district.

The Port Authority says there will be few byproducts from CCC’s operation, mostly oil from machinery, dust from grinding resins and cutting pellets, and packaging waste. Any hazardous waste, mostly oil, will be collected in sealed containers and removed by a licensed waste hauler. Dust will be contained through a collection system and then either reused or managed as industrial solid waste.

Fitzgerald said CCC will start making investments and posting jobs soon after it signs the lease. She said the company is expected to begin operations in 2027 and ramp up to 25 jobs in the first couple of years. Salaries will range from $42,000 to $100,000 plus depending on the position.

The 60,000-square-foot building CCC will be occupying, built and owned by the Port Authority, is in the Bill Theisen Industrial Park just west of The Plains. Fitzgerald said one of the reasons the company was attracted to this site is because the building can easily be doubled in size.