Dow Chemical Co. will build a new manufacturing plant for its Styrofoam brand of extruded polystyrene insulation in Burley, Idaho.
Construction of a 60,000-square-foot facility that incorporates the Midland, Mich.-based company's polymeric flame retardant technology, which it has trademarked as Dow Bluedge, will begin this year. The plant is scheduled to come on line in early 2018.
Dow has made the technology, which is a non-hazardous additive, available to the global extruded and expanded PS foam insulation industry through manufacturing and marketing licenses as an alternative to a flame retardant deemed toxic and banned in many countries.
The company says products that contain its additive perform the same in terms of meeting energy efficiency regulations while having an improved environmental, health and safety profile.
“The construction of this new facility will allow us to respond to market demand and deliver sustainable building solutions to our customers,” Tim Lacey, global business director for Dow Building Solutions, said in a news release.
The new facility will create 21 full-time jobs in the city of 11,000 people nestled along the Snake River in south central Idaho.