A company that received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee under the Biden administration announced Thursday it is canceling its plans for a plastics recycling plant in Pennsylvania, blaming the decision partly on tariffs announced by the Trump administration and stalled financing from the Energy Department.
IRG Erie cited numerous challenges Thursday that prompted the cancellation of its project, which had received an initial commitment from the Biden-era Loan Programs Office for a $182.6 million loan guarantee. That financing would have helped support the construction of the plastics recycling facility in a disadvantaged community in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“Over four years ago, we brought the IRG project to Erie with the intention of creating high-paying, family-sustaining jobs and turning Erie into a leader in environmental sustainability by replacing new plastic production with reused and recycled materials gathered from homes across the region,” said Mitch Hecht, the company’s founder and CEO, in a statement Thursday. “I am personally devastated after 18 years of working to bring this vision to a reality that we have failed to overcome these challenges.”
The company announced the conditional commitment from the LPO in July last year. A conditional commitment from the office typically means the loan recipient must meet certain financial and commercial terms before the loan guarantee can be finalized. Because IRG Erie had not entered into a finalized deal with the LPO on the loan guarantee, it had not yet received any federal funding.
