Waste Management Seeks to Build Single-Stream MRF in Nevada

Waste Management's proposed EcoCenter

Waste Management, based in Houston, has been in discussions with the City of Reno, Nev., over converting the city’s recyclables collection program from a source-separated operation to a single-stream collection and processing operation. Currently the company has 11 different plants in the Reno area. If the city approves the change, the company hopes to merge many of the operations under a single roof.

To demonstrate the success of its single-stream processing operations, four years ago WM introduced a pilot program for 866 households in Reno. According to Justin Caporusso, a spokesman for WM’s Reno operations, the program resulted in participation doubling and the collection of recyclables tripling.

Caporusso said the company now is seeking to expand the single-stream program to cover the whole city as well as surrounding areas. The company already has purchased land and has designed and sketched out its proposed EcoCenter facility.

If an agreement is reached, Waste Management will start construction of the 60,000-square-foot EcoCenter. The facility would be open for public and private use and would be funded through the single-stream recycling program.

Caporusso said he expects the city to reach a decision on converting its program to a single-stream by the end of the first quarter of 2012.