Hebron, Licking County, Ohio — On September 18, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) issued a new Notice of Violation (NOV) to the recently closed Freepoint Eco-Systems plastic pyrolysis facility. The OEPA investigated the Hebron facility after receiving a community complaint that alleged benzene leaks. In the resulting Notice of Violation, the Ohio EPA declared that Freepoint had violated several of Ohio’s hazardous waste regulations by improperly storing waste containing the known carcinogenic compound, benzene.
Although the Freepoint facility announced it would be closing in May 2026, it has continued to generate significant amounts of hazardous waste in the process of cleaning out equipment. Local organizers had previously raised concerns about pollution during decommissioning, and community members have long called for the Ohio EPA to decommission this facility as a plastic incinerator rather than a recycling facility.
“Freepoint would have never been held accountable without the courage and determination of several dozen Freepoint workers who spoke up about Freepoint’s hazardous pollution and got organized to demand accountability, for themselves and for their communities,” said Cat Adams, Petrochemicals Organizer at Buckeye Environmental Network. “Even through the decommissioning phase, this facility posed a threat to workers and nearby residents. With the information revealed through this inspection, the workers’ demand for paid, lifetime medical monitoring and the community’s demand for soil testing are even more important.”
Through the NOV, the public learned that Freepoint had not properly labeled or managed large quantities of hazardous waste. Photos from the investigation show one of these containers was not labeled as “hazardous waste” at all, and was left partially uncovered outside in the open air. Freepoint’s storage tank system also lacked necessary safety assessments and violated several environmental standards. This lack of testing increased the risk of exposure to workers on the site.
“As a former Freepoint worker I know firsthand this company is more interested in profits than in protecting workers,” said Barrett Bowen, former machine operator at Freepoint. “During my time at the facility I experienced hostile and unsafe working conditions but had no choice but to stick around to pay the bills and support my family. The details of this violation come as no surprise after what I saw and experienced including my entire shift getting sick after benzene leaks started. Former and current Freepoint workers deserve transparency and justice.”
This is the facility’s sixth violation in only two years of operations.
In April 2026, the Ohio EPA cited Freepoint for violating the terms of its recycling exemption after the company reported that it had failed to convert enough plastic to pyrolysis oil for several quarters. Per regulations, the facility was producing an outsized amount of waste compared to pyrolysis oil. In 2025 alone, Freepoint Eco-Systems generated 1,824,000 pounds of hazardous waste. This is more than quadruple the amount of hazardous waste generated by three other pyrolysis facilities (Alterra, Agilyx/AmSty, and Braven) in 2023.
Freepoint is also the subject of an active OEPA enforcement case and OEPA is still deliberating on the directors final orders.
“Freepoint continues to demonstrate that pyrolysis facilities at any stage are not safe for workers or the community,” said anaïs peterson, Petrochemicals Campaigner at Earthworks. “It is outrageous that Ohio EPA has taken such a hands-off approach to the decommissioning of a site with such a pitiful track record during operations. This facility is not an outlier. Pyrolysis facilities across Ohio, and the United States, must be held accountable for the harm they cause to workers and communities alike.”
For more background on the facility: