The Winchester-Clark County, Kentucky Planning Commission has unanimously approved a change in a land use amendment to allow Freedom Metals to open a new scrap metal recycling facility in the county.
The vote, held Dec. 1, switches the site from heavy industrial wood treatment to heavy industrial metal recycling. The owner of the land, Southern Wood Treatment Co., is selling off a portion of its land to Freedom for the scrap metal yard.
Spencer Blue, vice president of Freedom Metals, says the new location will bring to three the number of facilities that the company owns and operates. Freedom, headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a family owned company that has been in business since 1983.
The company expects to break ground on construction at the new site by early next year with operation slated to begin by the first half of next year.
The company expects to have 25 employees working at the site the first year, with employment growing to perhaps 50 within several years. Equipment at the site will include scales, material handling equipment and cranes. Further down the road, Blue notes, the company will be adding heavier types of equipment to do more processing.
The new location will be on roughly seven acres, and will handle processing of ferrous and nonferrous metals, including auto hulks, as well as old corrugated and other recyclables. The facility also is situated on a rail siding, which will allow the company to ship material both in and out via rail.
“We are always looking to expand,” Blue says. “We feel this area (Winchester County) is an uptapped area.”