Weitsman plans new scrap-processing plant in Owego instead of western PA

OWEGO, N.Y. — Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling announced last Thursday that it will build a new scrap-processing plant in Owego.

The company had discussed building the new operation in western Pennsylvania, but said it decided to build in its home area after the prior day’s double dose of bad economic news for the Southern Tier — a ban on fracking and no casinos for the region.

“I am excited to announce that we will be building a brand new state-of-the-art new media plant in Owego. We had looked at the possibility of putting this in western Pennsylvania however we feel that we have a great workforce and region right here in the Southern Tier that could use the work and the revenue,” Adam Weitsman, CEO of Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling, said in a news release.

He said the company will start the project with no tax breaks or government incentives and will be using local contractors for all of the construction.

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling expects to get the new plant operational in the next six months. The facility will use a processing technology that will further process zorba, a shredded mix of non-ferrous metals consisting primarily of aluminum generated by eddy-current separator or other segregation techniques, to separate out the aluminum from the heavy materials (copper, brass, zinc, and stainless).

As the East Coast’s largest privately held scrap-metal processor, Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling estimates it will process more than 100 million pounds of zorba through the new-media plant between its Owego and New Castle shredder in 2015.

The plant will be housed in a new 20,000-square foot building, which will be built at 1 Recycle Drive in Owego. It purchased from the Wendt Corporation of Buffalo the technology that will be installed at the newly constructed facility.

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling has not yet selected the construction contractors, but the bid will be announced soon, an Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling spokesman said in an email, responding to an inquiry from the Business Journal News Network. All selected contractors will be local businesses, he noted.

The new plant will create 10 to 15 permanent positions, the spokesman said, but he could not provide an estimate on the number of temporary construction jobs to be created.

Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling says it currently has 15 locations throughout New York and Pennsylvania.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com