American protein products supplier Tyson Foods is preparing to launch a $200 million project to replace a Valley River Ingredients facility in Hanceville, AL that was destroyed in a blaze last July. The company’s plans were announced at an event last Friday morning at Wallace State Community College, the Cullman Tribune reported. Tyson’s new 121,000-sq-ft facility will process poultry byproducts into proteins and fats.

Prior to the fire, the location was the largest poultry rendering plant in the world, according to information in the account attributed to River Valley Ingredients regional manager Jason Spann, processing about 2 billion lb/yr of poultry byproducts.

Several area fire departments responded to the blaze at the Hanceville plant on July 30, 2021. Officials said that grease and animal by-products were apparently involved in the fire. No injuries occurred.

Work on the new facility is expected to reach completion in mid-2023 and the company intends to rehire 124 team members that previously worked at the plant lost to the fire, the newspaper detailed.