On Wednesday, July 30, the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (EDC) announced that Titus County will become home to the first zero- landfill aluminum facility in the nation, being brought to life by the Aluminz Corporation.
Aluminz reached out to the City of Mount Pleasant back in July of 2024 and has been working with the city council and EDC since then. They have secured a 155-acre site next to U.S. Highway-67, close to Winfield. They’ve signed a 30year lease and performance agreement to develop their flagship zero-landfill aluminum tolling facility. Aluminz is a portfolio company of 1V1sionCapital, a New York based private investment firm. We spoke with Aluminz CEO, Richard Mayenknecht, who explained what exactly Aluminz Corp. does, “We’re the entire process of aluminum recycling and we’re going to be the first in the United States to heavily implement solar power. It’ll take a fraction of our overall consumption, but it’s important for us to lower our carbon footprint, as our customers want a low carbon aluminum product.”
This project is expected to bring over 130 above-market- wage jobs and 75 construction roles. The EDC expects that this will revitalize the manufacturing base in Titus County. Mayenknecht added, “The wages will be about 25% more than the Titus County average. We want to pay for really good quality people and it’s not based on their economic or academic background, just about who they are. We are heavily subsidizing our healthcare plans and it’s going to be a very generous benefits package.”
Aluminz chose Titus County for their flagship facility because it has direct rail access to Union Pacific (UNP) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) lines via NETEX Rail and proximity to Interstate I-30. Mayenknecht said, “Aluminum is very sensitive to logistics costs. When we saw that Mount Pleasant had land available and was proximate to I-30, we thought that’s the wonderful thing about Titus County. It’s kind of directionally in the heart of all the aluminum producers in the state of Texas.”
In a press release, the MP EDC highlighted that aluminum “underpins the aerospace, automotive, electronics, consumer and renewable-energy sectors– yet the U.S. imports a substantial amount of the raw material.
Aluminz adds a homegrown, ultra-low-carbon supply.” They also emphasized that Aluminz is an environmental leader with their true zero-landfill processing, a 7.5 MW solar array, and best-in-class emissions controls which reduce their greenhouse gas footprint by over 90%.
Mayenknecht explained why this kind of facility matters for the nation, “Right now, in the U.S., more than one-million metric tons goes into landfill of the salt cake product every year. Globally, it’s over five-million metric tons. That’s a lot of valuable aluminum and a lot of valuable salt that we can extract out and put back in our process.”
Board President of the MPEDC, Erman Hensel, also commented on this project coming to Titus County, “Our motto has become ‘land here, grow here,’ and today we are excited to welcome Aluminz to Mount Pleasant, Texas. This achievement is a testament to the power of teamwork and strong leadership. When local partners come together with a shared vision, great things happen. This announcement represents a major milestone in Mount Pleasant’s continued efforts to attract new investment and support job creation. The addition of Aluminz further positions Mount Pleasant, Texas, as a place where businesses can grow and succeed.”
Aluminz is scheduled to break ground this year, and be fully operational in early 2027. The 220,000 squarefoot plant will have a capacity of 140,000 MT/year. The facility will be located at 8921 U.S. Highway-67 West near Mount Pleasant.
