Youngstown City Council Rejects Proposal Tire Melting Plant

After a unanimous decision, Youngstown, Ohio has rejected a proposal for a chemical process to turn shredded tires into gas to be used for heating.

SOBE Thermal Energy had planned to develop a zero, or very low oxygen chemical process which would take old, shredded tires and convert them into gas. However, the Youngstown City Council rejected that plan based on its proximity to populated neighborhoods, a hospital, jail, schools, and churches.

The Youngstown City Council believes that the risks from the plant would be too high. Also, the council cited a fire at the Indiana Brightmark Plastics pyrolysis plant as a cautionary tale for this proposal.

David Ferro, owner of SOBE, said earlier this year that members of the community were misunderstanding the project. However, he still believed it would bring a much-needed positive impact to Youngstown.

SOBE would need to come up with a new proposal and re-zoning application to begin this kind of work. However, the future of this project is not too bright considering this first rejection and the reasoning.

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