Freepoint Eco-Systems has suspended advanced plastics recycling operations at its Hebron facility amid environmental concerns from local residents and alleged EPA violations.
Ohio EPA Press Secretary Bryant Somerville told The Advocate that Freepoint Eco-Systems informed the agency that it suspended operations. The agency notified the company April 28 that it had not met requirements that apply to waste combustion units, the latest in a string of notices alleging violations of EPA standards.
The Ohio EPA gave the company until the end of May to submit a compliance plan explaining how it would meet waste combustion unit standards. The company notified the agency May 28 of its decision to suspend operations, according to a news release.
“The Ohio EPA is coordinating with Freepoint to ensure the shutdown complies with applicable environmental requirements,” Somerville said in a statement.
The move comes after the Ohio EPA alleged it found several other violations from the company. In February 2025, EPA staff alleged witnessing violations in the number of emissions the company was releasing at the site. In November, the EPA alleged it determined emissions from the facility’s distillation unit bypassed vapor combustors, which can help destroy hazardous pollutants.
A month later, an Ohio EPA inspector saw similar emission violations, officials alleged in another notice. In its April notice, the EPA said the company reported that the weight of pyrolysis oil produced was less than 70% of the weight of plastics it processed for the last six months of 2025 and first three of 2026.
Plastic recyclers must meet that threshold to ensure its recovering materials that can be harmful to the environment. The EPA gave the company 30 days to come into compliance before the latter issued its notice to suspend operations.
“Freepoint Eco-Systems is suspending operations at the Hebron, Ohio facility,” a Freepoint Eco-Systems spokesperson told The Advocate. “The site is undergoing a controlled transition to a care-and-maintenance state while strategic options for the facility are evaluated. Our priorities throughout this process are safety, environmental stewardship, regulatory compliance, and support for affected employees and contractors.”
The Connecticut-based company opened the facility in 2024 in Union Township, just north of Hebron, its first efforts to conduct advanced recycling. The company uses high temperature reactors to vaporize unused plastic in an oxygen-free environment. It later sells the recycled liquid hydrocarbons to create new plastic, the company stated in 2022.
The site drew quick criticism, including from Buckeye Environmental Network and Moms Clean Air Force, which felt the company’s operations were a form of plastics incineration and exposed families in the area to toxic air pollution.
Amanda Rowoldt, Ohio field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, took photos and video of the plant emitting black smoke in February 2025. In an interview, she reported having growing concerns of the site’s effect on nearby residents, including those who visit Mastodon Gold Club and The Dawes Arboretum, which are east of the site.
The organizations say the site exposed Licking Countians to harmful chemicals that could cause cancer, asthma and other illnesses. The high-heat burning of the plastic breaks it down considerably, a process Freepoint in 2022 called a solution to combatting plastic waste.
“Freepoint’s Hebron plastic incinerator was an environmental health disaster that exemplified the reality of the so-called ‘chemical recycling’ industry,” Buckeye Environmental Network Petrochemicals Organizer Cat Adams said in a news release. “This shutdown is a win for community members, who have been sounding the alarm about this facility since it first began burning plastic and emitting black smoke.
“Now, it is critical that Freepoint does the work to actively engage impacted community members in the shutdown process and remediate any environmental harms it caused.”
The company is planning to open a large-scale advanced recycling plant in Eloy, Arizona, stating that the facility will create more than 100 jobs in the area and provide millions in economic revenue. It employs dozens of people in Hebron at its around 260,000-square foot building.
Advocate reporter Josué Perez can be reached at jhperez@newarkadvocate.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Freepoint Eco-Systems suspends recycling operations at Hebron plant
Reporting by Josué Perez, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
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By Josué Perez, Newark Advocate | USA TODAY Network
