At a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday Gerdau Steel announced plans for a $20 million project that will upgrade its separation system at the company’s local steel mill.

The announcement includes the addition of 30 new jobs. Gerdau has approximatley 350 employees locally and 800 throughout the state of Tennessee, making the company one of the largest recyclers in North America.

Locally, Gerdau recycles more than 600,000 tons of scrap steel annually, said Ricardo Anawate, vice president and general manager of the Jackson

Much of the scrap comes in the form of automobile.  Once the vehicles are shredded, scrap steel is separated from the shredded material, including non-ferrous metals such as copper and aluminum.

They estimate when the facility is fully operational they will be able to recover approximately 30 million pounds of non-ferrous metals .

The non-ferrous facility will be constructed on the west end of Gerdau’s 625-acre campus, located in north Madison County.

Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said “We celebrate an investment of $20 million, and the addition of 30 new positions, and we are very, very appreciative”.

According to Richard Archie, senior project manager with H+M Construction Co. construction begins Monday and they expect to have the project completed by mid-March.

The non-ferrous facility will be on the west side of the company’s 625-acre property in north Madison County.