WMI Officially Opens Single-Stream MRF in Philadelphia

Waste Management Inc. (WMI) has announced the official opening of its newest Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Philadelphia. Top officials from WMI were joined by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and other local and state officials to celebrate the launch of the single stream MRF.

WMI invested more than $20 million to build the MRF. According to a Waste Management release, the MRF is the largest single-stream facility in the region and is able to sort and process more than 50 tons of recyclables per hour. In addition to conventional recyclables, the MRF has been designed to capture materials such as film plastic and rigid plastics, which expands the range of materials that can be recycled.

Mike Taylor, a spokesman for WMI, says the facility will be able to process around 20,000 tons of recyclables per month. When fully operational, it will run three shifts a day five days a week.

"Waste Management is focused on recovering more of the valuable materials in waste through the use of advanced technologies such as single-stream recycling," says Patrick DeReuda, president of WMI Recycle America. "By making the process of handling recyclables simpler for local residents and businesses, this facility has the potential to significantly increase local recycling participation rates, enabling us to further reduce waste, recover more material and improve the effectiveness of municipal and commercial recycling programs."

The Philadelphia MRF will accept material from Philadelphia's single-stream residential collection program as well as from other communities and commercial customers in the region.

The Philadelphia MRF was constructed using sustainable building and design techniques and has received LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The siding and roofing of the processing building contain more than 80 percent recycled content; advanced stormwater management systems, including a green roof on the office facility, treat stormwater to improve its quality prior to release.

This project is part of Waste Management's sustainability initiative to nearly triple the amount of recyclable materials it recovers, from about 8 million tons today to more than 20 million tons by 2020.