The Ecolomondo plant in Hawkesbury is up and running. Management and staff are busy making sure the facility is operating efficiently and effectively. “The plant is fully functional,” Ecolomondo President Eliot Sorella said. During the past six to eight weeks, staff have been perfecting the efficiency of the new plant at the eastern end of Tessier Street. Sorella said those issues are mostly resolved and final testing will begin soon. Full production is anticipated in May 2024, according to a January 2 press  release issued by the company. “We’re certainly getting there,” Sorella said. The new plant will take old tires and convert them into other materials for new, marketable uses using the Thermal Decomposition Process (TDP) it owns. These products include oil, steel, fibre, recycled carbon black and syngas, and will be equipped to secondary process them to improve their quality. Ecolomondo describes the Hawkesbury plant and technology as ‘turnkey,’ because the facility is delivered from conception to commissioning, with four departments – tire shredding, thermal decomposition, recycled carbon black and oil refining – that process tires down to their core raw materials. The Hawkesbury facility generated revenues during 2023, mostly in the third quarter, from the sale of end-products already produced at the plant. The company says customers that purchased those products expressed satisfaction and many placed repeat orders. The ground was broken in August 2019 to begin construction of the plant. The main steel structure is 46,000 square feet with an indoor clearance of 28 feet. Behind the building are located large storage tanks for gas, oil and fractionation of the oil. Sorella explained that initially, there were construction delays due to bad weather during the winter of 2019-2020, and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which caused considerable delays and disruptions to construction and getting the plant online. “For about three months, we were completely shut down. We couldn’t do anything,” Sorella said. However, as soon as work could resume, it did. The exterior of the building was completely enclosed by the end of September 2020. “We built that plant right through COVID-19,” remarked Sorella. He said the biggest challenges during the pandemic were its effect on labour because of construction workers becoming ill, or quarantining due to exposure to those who were sick. Sorella was originally hoping to have the plant built and operating within 16 months of construction starting. The pandemic also caused significant delays for procuring the proper parts required by the various subcontractors installing equipment. Sorella said the right parts always had to be used. “We cut no corners, we do everything by the book there,” he said. The cost of the Ecolomondo plant in Hawkesbury has increased since construction began, largely due to pandemic-related challenges. Sorella said the budget has gone from $38 million to $50 million. Ecolomondo had secured a loan from the federal agency Export Development Canada (EDC) of $32.1 million for the construction of the Hawkesbury plant. In addition to the EDC loan, Ecolomondo announced on January 3, 2024, that Sorella, who is Ecolomondo’s controlling shareholder, has committed to convert previous loans he made to the company, totalling $3,498,853 as of January 2, 2024, into voting common shares. The remainder of Ecolomondo’s shares are held publicly and the company is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto. In addition, Sorella intends to advance a further $1 million to Ecolomondo from 3212521 Canada Inc., a company he also controls. Currently, 14 people are working at the Ecolomondo plant in Hawkesbury. Sorella said at least an additional 20 people will be hired to work at the facility. “We’re hiring by the day,” he said. Sorella emphasized that whenever possible, Ecolomondo has used local contractors at the site. In addition to creating jobs, Ecolomondo has the potential to add value to the Town of Hawkesbury’s industrial tax base. Municipal Treasurer Philippe Timbers said the Tessier Street property is currently valued at $2,541,000, and the value could increase in coming years. Timbers said the average annual town property taxes for the site are estimated at about $73,500 with an approximate yearly total of $123,500 once taxes are added for the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and education.