A recycling operation in Soddy Daisy will expand after property at 348 Rock Quarry Road was rezoned from R-5 Single lot mobile home district to M-1 Industrial District.
Priority Waste Services already has a waste transfer station at the location, but owner Sean Sims plans to erect a building to house equipment that will recycle waste such as wood and plastics into pellets that can be used to make many items including tables, chairs, flooring or diesel fuel.
The machinery that converts the trash into usable materials produces no run-off or pollution of any kind, said Mr.
Sims. Currently, 350 tons are processed each day. That will increase to 500 tons a day with the new machinery.
When it is built, the new business will employ 85-100 people for jobs ranging from labor to engineers.
Vice Mayor Jim Adams said the new facility will reduce what is taken to the landfills. It is estimated that just one percent of materials that are handled will end up in landfills when the new equipment is up and running.