The new owner of the Methes Energies plant south of Sombra in St. Clair Township hopes to expand the biodiesel facility.
BIOX Corporation CEO Alan Rickard says they'll slowly be restarting the Holt Line operation that has been idle for the last 18 months.
"We would like to be able to use a broader range of feedstocks, namely cooking oils and rendered fat," he says. "We would also like to increase the efficiencies to a level similar to our Hamilton facility. To do that, we would have to spend about $5-million and it would take a bunch of time to get all the items in place."
Once the plant is in full production, it would employ 15 to 20 people.
Fats and oils will be converted to a type of biodiesel called methyl ester which can be blended and used in petroleum diesel.