ASHLEY, Ind.- If you’ve ever used a toothbrush and thrown it away thinking it would be recycled, you would have been wrong. That is, until now. A plant run by Brightmark Energy, of San Francisco, that is under construction in Steuben County, will recycle items not currently being recycled, and turn them into useful products.

The company’s CEO, Bob Powell, tells Inside Indiana Business that they will hire 130 workers for the job, and the first commercial-scale plastics-to-fuel plant could expand four to eight times that size.

“The other impact that is good for Indiana is this is a global problem, and with a global problem comes the need to do this globally,” he said. “This is the first site and so what we would expect beyond just the pure expansion is we want to show the world that this can be done, that we can help solve the plastics problem and bring them here to Indiana, to Ashley.”

He said one of the products they will create from the non-resuables, is diesel fuel.

“Toothbrushes that are currently not recycled, can you imagine going to the hospital without the use of an IV bag-not recycled currently and things like Styrofoam cups,” said Powell, pointing out some examples.

“It is unique because there are a lot of plastics that we currently can’t reuse and we are able to put into a facility and create useful products out of. And, Ashley is the first of its kind and that’s very exciting.”