A Springdale, Ark., company plans to open a state-off-the-art plastic recycling facility by October near Watts.

A spokesman for Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies said the company expects to employ 60 to 65 workers once the first phase of construction is completed. Planned expansion could raise the total to 265 employees. The average of all wages and salaries at the plant is expected to be about $14 per hour.

AERT manufactures composite building products — made from recycled polyethylene and scrap wood fibers — used for decking, door and window components, and exterior trim.

Company officials say the Watts recycling plant “is expected to significantly reduce the company’s raw material costs and assure a stable supply of raw materials.”

Al Drinkwater, AERT senior vice president for administration, said the company plans to expand its Watts facility with two additional phases. The timing of the second and third phases, Drinkwater said, will depend upon the company’s ability to capture a sufficient portion of the composite building materials market. That market is forecast to grow 14 percent during the next two to three years.

“We’re looking forward to getting our share of that growth,” Drinkwater said, noting some concern about the housing markets. “I think we’ll know over the next two years if we’re going to be able to move forward.”

If the second- and third-phase plans are realized, Drinkwater said the company’s plastic-waste mining and reclamation plant in Watts could employ up to 265 workers. The first phase of construction is being financed by a $13.5 million bond underwritten by Gates Capital Corp. and purchased by Allstate Investors LLC, the investment management subsidiary of Allstate Insurance Co.

“The support of various State of Oklahoma agencies and the Cherokee Nation not only greatly assisted us in funding the project, but also provided validation of our strategy,” said AERT Chief Executive Officer Joe Brooks.

While the prospect of new jobs for the area is exciting for some, others have expressed concern about a new industry locating on the banks of the Illinois River. In addition to location, some are concerned the Watts wastewater lagoon system cannot handle the additional effluent from the AERT facility.

“We are not necessarily opposed to the plant at this juncture,” Save the Illinois River President Kurt Robinson said of AERT’s plans. “We are concerned about this site because there have been some problems in the past with the onsite lagoon, and we want to make sure these things are corrected and want to know what is being released from the plant.”

The AERT plant will be located on property where a large hog feedout and finishing facility once operated. Drinkwater said the company plans to retrofit the wastewater and manure pits to pretreat the effluent from the recycling process before it is discharged into the municipal system.

Drinkwater said the water used during the mining and reclamation process will be used several times before it flows from the recycling plant to Watts’ wastewater lagoon system. The ultimate goal, Drinkwater said, is zero discharge from AERT’s plant.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, an engineering report submitted by Watts officials regarding its wastewater system was approved Sept. 26.

Skylar McElhaney, ODEQ public information officer, said the engineering report proposes improvements to the town’s collection and treatment system in order accommodate the plastics recycling plant. The proposed improvements, McElhaney said, include the construction of a lift station, 6,900 feet of force main that would carry the effluent from the recycling plant to the Watts lagoons, and repairs and an expansion of the Watts wastewater land application system.

“The proposed improvements will not result in a wastewater discharge,” McElhaney said. “The system is designed to maintain total retention through land application.”