By R.J. DeLuke
A Quebec-based company that makes high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes wants to build a plant in the W.J. Grande Industrial Park in Saratoga Springs.
Soleno Inc., based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, presented its plans to the city Planning Board on March 23 and received approval for the project, estimated to cost about $22 million. The new plant will be situated on 22 acres.
According to Benjamin Robitaille, a vice president for Soleno, 35 to 50 jobs would be created, with an average salary of $70,000 per year. Those jobs would be engineers, operators, technicians and sales and administrative personnel.
Munter Enterprises will be the general contractor. Company president John Munter appeared before the planners along with Robitaille.
Robitaille said the company is family owned, founded in 1977. They have 10 plants in eastern Canada and employ more than 500 people. The plant in Saratoga Springs would be its first U.S. location.
Soleno has applied for a tax incentive package from the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency. The Saratoga Economic Development Corp. is assisting the company in that process.
A two-phase project is planned, Munter explained. The board approved construction of a 45,480-square-foot factory and office building. Some 25,000 more square feet could be added if the business is strong enough to justify it.
Robitaille said the company builds HDPE piping used for water drainage projects, and has forestry and agriculture applications
Products are made for culverts, catch basin and manholes, surface draining systems, treatments systems, infiltration basin and retention systems and many other applications. They also make and sell all manner of amenities for those systems
Robitaille told the board that in Saratoga, the company plans to make pipes it is currently not producing at other plants. These pipes will be anywhere from 48 inches in diameter, to 12-14 feet in diameter.
The piping is “leak free, sustainable, flexible and customized for specific application,” he said.
In its manufacturing process, Soleno uses recycled plastics, including bottles, that are shredded and incorporated as one of the raw materials, said Robitaille.
Where manufacturing standards allow, a significant part of the raw materials come from post-consumer recycled content. Those materials, routed through the Soleno Recycling plant in Yamachiche, Quebec, come largely from the products placed in recycling bins each week.
HDPE piping systems have been used for municipal and industrial water applications for over 50 years. They are used for ground source geothermal applications, also known as earth energy or geoexchange systems.
According to the Plastic Pipes Institute, HDPE is a tough, durable piping material with unique performance properties that allow for its use in a broad range of applications, utilizing a variety of different construction techniques. In the ground source geothermal industry, HDPE was one of the earliest piping materials utilized, thanks to its combination of characteristics which meet the specific demands of these applications, as listed above.
HDPE piping systems are approved for geothermal ground loops in all model codes across the United States and Canada.
Soleno’s mission is to design, manufacture and distribute HDPE, products for controlling and mastering stormwater.