Rubber Recycler Expands in Louisiana

The city of Vidalia, La., and Louisiana Elastomer LLC (LAEL) have announced the construction of a 36,000-square-foot building in the city’s industrial park. The company, which opened in Vidalia in March 2009, already has roughly 50,000 square feet in which it operates. There is the possibility of expanding that operation to as much as 150,000 square feet.

“When we made the decision to expand our operation, we couldn’t think of anyone better to do business with than the city of Vidalia,” says Michael Wells, president and CEO of Louisiana Elastomer.

The new building will be located adjacent to the existing LAEL plant and will produce and house the treatment chemical compounds used in the rubber recycling process. “Producing this product in house will allow us to save on transportation cost, and most importantly on time,” Wells adds.

LAEL is expected to invest around $4 million and will create 86 jobs by 2012 on the project.

The city of Vidalia is leasing the land and the building to LAEL. The lease agreement is for 25 years and LAEL will have an option to buy the building once the lease is up.

The company is expected to begin construction on the expansion project by this coming spring.

When fully operational, LAEL is expected to process around 20 million passenger tires per year. The company currently runs three recycling lines.

The end product will be shipped to fill both domestic and offshore orders.