Deputy energy secretary visits Shelbyville plant playing a role in return of U.S. manufacturing
An expansion at a state-of-the-art Shelbyville recycling facility will bring 200 more jobs to the area and help bring a critical manufacturing ingredient back to the U.S.
Wieland Copper Recycling's growth is so important, a deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy came to the plant today to celebrate the $270 million federal grant that will make that expansion possible.
"There is an active competition, and unfortunately, we've been fighting with one or two hands behind our back in our country for too long," said Deputy Secretary David Turk. "We finally have tools in our tool belt – funding support like this program to help a company like Wieland."
Wieland is one of 33 recipients of the $6 billion Industrial Demonstration Program, which was funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. The grants target projects that expand U.S. industry while demonstrating new ways to lower the industry's greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently, more than 50 percent of U.S. scrap copper is sent abroad to be recycled, said Matt Bedingfield, president of recycling for Wieland North America.
The new Shelbyville plant will produce 80 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than current sources, he said.
"It's going to take metal that was mostly going abroad, mostly to China, and it's going to keep it here to support U.S. manufacturing," he said.