WM Opens Single-Stream MRF in North Carolina

Houston-based Waste Management Inc. (WM) used America Recycles Day  to celebrate the grand opening of its new single-stream material recovery facility (MRF) in Winston-Salem, N.C. WM employees were joined by local elected officials from Winston-Salem and neighboring communities for the unveiling of the new plant.

“We have two reasons to celebrate today,” said Tracey Shrader, area vice president for Waste Management’s South Atlantic area. “We are offering residents a very convenient opportunity to engage in making their community sustainable, and we are doing it on a day that is nationally recognized for all Americans to pledge to recycle more.”

The 85,000-square-foot facility in Winston-Salem employs advanced recycling technology to provide better separation of materials, increase capacity and improve local recycling participation, the company says.

According to Richard Huckabee, WM director of recycling for the South Atlantic area, the technology can result in an average recovery of up to 30 percent more recyclable materials.

“Single-stream processing allows residents an economically sustainable recycling option that will not only increase recycling rates, but also conserves natural resources and preserves valuable landfill space,” he says.

In 2011, WM extracted almost 12.9 million tons of recyclables from the waste stream — 61 percent more than its baseline in 2007. The company says its goal is to manage more than 20 million tons a year of recyclables by 2020.