Supreme Industries Aiming to Bring Clean Waste-to-Energy Plant to Town

It’s still early in the process, but a new proposal that could come before the Planning and Zoning Commission in the coming months would place Southington on the forefront of the clean energy movement.

Supreme Industries, a company currently based out of Harwinton, is in negotiations with the town to create a mulch processing facility along DePaolo Drive at the site of the old landfill, but the long-term goal of the company is to develop a fully functional organic pyrolysis plant. The plant would operate alongside the mulch manufacturing facility currently before the zoning commission.

Mark Vigneault, a Southington resident and vice-president of Supreme Industries, said the plant would be just the second in the state and use exciting new technology that could very well be the wave of the future.

“As a Southington resident, I would love my town to be ahead of curve both in the state and the nation in terms of green wood waste and source separated organics,” Vigneault said. “The plant would be only the second in the state.”

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Pyrolysis is a technology that converts waste materials into energy by heating the products in an oxygen-free chamber. The heated product then lets off a gas that is collected and bottled for energy use and the remaining carbon byproduct can be used in creating items such as car filters.

Attorney William Tracy, representing Supreme Industries and B & R Corp. in the planning process, told members of the this week that the plant would be used only for organic wood materials, such as brush and other forest byproducts that could not be used in creating mulch. The technology is “extremely clean,” he said.

In order for the plant to operate, Tracy said the company would be required the receive permits from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The state DEEP would also provide regular safety inspections at the site.

“It’s a really unique concept and it’s something that could be a wonderful addition here in town,” said Louis Perillo III.

Vigneault said the plant would cause little noise – everything operates indoors and would be run on a typical 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule – and would also operate without much air pollution at all.

“In talking with experts, the amount of emissions that the plant would put out over the course of an entire day is equal to that of a single farm tractor. We’re not talking about ten tractors, but just one,” Vigneault said.

Although the wheels are now in motion for the plant to begin going through the application process, it will still be a considerable amount of time before the town will see anything being built.

If the proposal is able to gain local approval, it would still need to go through the state approval and permit process, he said. This process typically takes as long as six months but there is no timetable for when Supreme Industries expects to gain approval, Vigneault said.

“It’s still very early in the process,” he said.

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