New Falls Twp. Plant Would Create 100 Jobs

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — A plant proposed in Falls Township that would turn scrap plastic and paper into boards used in roofing would create about 100 new jobs, company officials said this week.

The site, by Continuus Materials, LLC, would be the first of five sites across the United States for the company's post-consumer and post-industrial waste separations facilities. Representatives of the company discussed the plans with township supervisors at their meeting Monday.

The plant, if approved, would be built on a 10-acre property owned by Waste Management on New Ford Mill Road. Its construction, projected to begin in May and run through October 2022, would create about 340 construction jobs while ongoing, officials said.

Continuus Materials would use the latest technology "to pull plastic and paper out of the waste stream" and transform it into cover boards for commercial roofing applications, company Senior Vice President Allan Bradshaw told supervisors.

"It literally is the garbage bag that you put in the trash can," he said. "The vast majority of that paper and plastic is recoverable, completely without a human hand touching it."

The company's process recovers 25 percent of waste paper and plastic. The rest is taken in trucks to landfills.

Under the company's plans, several trucks per hour bound for Waste Management's landfill would be diverted to the plant to provide materials.

"Just diverting trucks that are already on their way to the landfill makes sense," said Falls Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff Dence.

Continuus Materials attorney Tom Jennings said the facility would not impact landfill tipping or host fees paid to the township.

Supervisors took no action on the plans on Monday. Once Continuus Materials submits a land development application, the board can start a formal review of plans and consider granting approval.