CORNWALL – Electronic waste recycler FCM Recycling has closed its Cornwall operations permanently, putting up to 35 people out of a job.
Plant Manager Joel Latreille confirmed the closure to Cornwall Newswatch but referred other questions to the company’s head office in Lavaltrie, Que., northeast of Montreal.
The plant is at 2900 Loyalist Avenue in the Cornwall Business Park.
President Andre Rubin did not return calls requesting comment for this story.
In a 2018 interview with Recycling Product News, Rubin boasted about being ahead of the curve in electronic plastics recycling with a $1 million investment in Cornwall’s polymer division.
“Our work in plastics recycling is a couple of years ahead of everybody,” he told the publication. “We feel that that’s a major differentiator for us from our competition, as our recycling rate is considerably higher because of our ability to domestically handle plastic.”
Rubin bought the company in 2010.
The company had the capacity to process 10 million pounds of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and was the first e-waste recycler in Canada to operate a plastics recycling facility.
In addition to its shredding facility at its head office, the company has plants in Elmsdale, N.S. and Delta, B.C. The Cornwall plant would clean plastic and turn it into pellet form, preparing it for resale.
The closure means up to 35 workers have lost their jobs at the Cornwall location, based on employee numbers from the City of Cornwall’s business directory. It’s not known whether the employees were offered an option to transfer to other plants.
