WM opens 2 new recycling facilities

Houston-based WM has opened two new recycling facilities this month.

The Grand Central Recycling Facility opened in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, Sept. 18 and is expected to process up to 120,000 tons of material per year, leveraging optical sorters, volumetric scanners and artificial intelligence (AI). These features are intended to enable the collection and sortation of hard-to-recycle plastic, including polypropylene; process more material efficiently; and reduce contamination challenges, improving the quality of the end product.

“WM has invested $48 million in this facility,” says Chris Farley, vice president of WM’s Greater Mid-Atlantic area. “This plant can process as much as 120,000 tons of material a year and produce commodities that are more attractive to the mills that turn these materials into new products.” 

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WM also opened a recycling facility in Portland, Oregon, earlier this month, which represents a $47 million investment from the company.

The WM Portland Recycling Facility is expected to process up to 38 tons of material per hour, employing AI and other advanced technologies.

“This is an exciting moment for sustainability in Oregon,” says Jason Rose, WM Pacific Northwest area vice president. “The new WM Portland Recycling Facility is a state-of-the-art facility equipped to drive new levels of efficiency and support recycling growth in the state.”

WM says the startup of this facility was timed to help Oregon accelerate the modernization of its statewide recycling system under the Recycling Modernization Act.

“WM has championed waste reduction and recycling in Oregon for more than three decades,” Rose says. “Now we are using AI and other advanced technologies to improve recycling and drive sustainability in an effort to help achieve even greater impact in Oregon.”  

Both facilities are part of WM’s enterprise-wide plan to invest more than $1.4 billion in 39 new and upgraded recycling facilities across North America from 2022 to 2026, which is expected to add approximately 2.8 million tons of incremental annual processing capacity. WM says these planned investments seek to enable the company to increase its ability to manage more recycled materials and potentially enhance access to recycling for its customers.