Taking in the tons

Many material recovery facilities (MRFs) across North America have benefited from facility and equipment upgrades in recent years, and their capacity for growth is on display.

In 2023, Recycling Today published its list of the largest MRFs in North America—based on numbers recorded in 2022—and found that the 75 largest MRFs shipped an estimated 8.5 million tons of recyclables. That number represented a sharp increase over the 5.8 million tons recorded in 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic greatly altered residential and commercial material flows.

With the pandemic largely in the rearview mirror, MRFs have continued to show resilience and ingenuity to meet current needs. For example, months before the 2023 list was published, Rosemont, Illinois-based LRS opened its Exchange MRF in Chicago. The $50 million investment can process 25 tons per hour and might be expanded to 35 tons per hour in the future. At the time of the facility’s opening, LRS said the Exchange was projected to divert 224 million pounds of recyclables per year.

Elsewhere, Circular Services (formerly Balcones Recycling) opened a new 50-ton-per-hour facility in San Antonio last year, equipped with what the company said at the time was the first fully automated container line in the U.S. Also in 2024, Cincinnati-based Rumpke Waste & Recycling opened the $100 million Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center in Columbus, Ohio, a state-of-the-art facility capable of processing up to 250,000 tons of recyclables per year from more than 50 Ohio counties.

In its 2025 sustainability report, Houston-based WM says it upgraded or built 12 recycling facilities as part of its plans to invest more than $3 billion to strengthen its recycling and renewable natural gas infrastructure through 2026. Last year, WM says it recovered more than 16 million tons of material for recycling, increasing the company’s material recovery capacity by 545,000 tons from 2023.

This year’s list of North America’s largest MRFs is based on total tonnage of recyclables received in 2024 as reported by the facilities. Estimates were necessary in some cases because Recycling Today did not receive information from these MRFs as of press time.

While some tonnages appearing on the list are marked with an asterisk to indicate estimates, WM reported the rated capacity of its largest MRFs, which are noted on the list with a caret symbol.

Of the MRFs listed, the Roseville, California-based Western Placer Waste Management Authority facility tops this year’s list with 395,246 tons received, followed by newcomer LRS Exchange, with 286,317 tons. A facility that climbed into the top 10 this year is San Jose, California-based GreenWaste Recovery Inc., which reported receiving 245,035 tons—placing it fifth on the list.

Based on estimated tonnage, the city of Toronto’s MRF operated by GFL Environmental Inc. ranked third on the list, maintaining a top position similar to previous editions.

Based on rated capacity, three WM MRFs ranked in the top 10, led by Elkridge, Maryland, at 250,000 tons.

The author is associate editor of Recycling Today and can be reached at cvoloschuk@gie.net.