Trump Tariffs, Financing Issues Scuttle Plans For $300M PA Plant

ERIE, PA — Plans for a new $300 million plastics recycling plant here have been canceled, with the financial uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump's recent imposition of global tariffs cited as a significant reason for the project's death.

Erie-based International Recycling Group was to build the plant on a 25-acre site that formerly housed a paper mill. The Erie Times-News reported the facility would have created 300 jobs and produced about 100,000 tons of recycled plastic materials annually.

But IRG had yet to receive a $182 million Department of Energy loan approved last summer by the Biden administration that the company needed to finalize fundraising for the plant. The Trump administration had put an indefinite hold on the funding commitment.

In a statement provided Thursday to the Times-News, IRG officials said "Additional challenged include recently announced tariffs on materials and on equipment from Europe not made in the U.S., resulting in expectations of substantially high project development costs than anticipated, as well as difficulties in securing long-term purchase agreements for recycled materials from plastics manufacturers and consumer product groups, many of whom are cutting back on sustainability pledges."

The IRG website says the website is expired. The company's Facebook page last was updated in October.

The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership said it was frustrated by the project's collapse.

"This project had significant support at the state and local level, across public and private sectors, and to see it pulled is a significant loss," Brandon Mendoza, the organization's CEO, said in a statement.

“As always, we remain committed to advocating for sustainable investment and working to attract new business opportunities, but the opportunity cost to develop such an enormous project with all pieces aligned to end like this is a disappointing outcome.”