WM announced it has opened a nearly 125,000 square-foot recycling facility in Indianapolis. The state-of-the-art technology deployed in the new facility is expected to process up to 200,000 tons of recyclables per year, providing critical recycling infrastructure to the state of Indiana.
The addition of the new WM Indianapolis Recycling Facility 鈥� with state-of-the-art technology, including glass recovery equipment, optical sorters, non-wrapping screens, and ballistic separators 鈥� is intended to help allow the region鈥檚 recycling programs to expand and produce higher quality material for customers who use the recycled material as feedstock to manufacture new products.
鈥淲M continues its investment in recycling infrastructure with the opening of our new state-of-the-art Indianapolis Recycling Facility,鈥� said Frank Fello, area vice president, WM Great Lakes.聽鈥淥ur team is proud to provide a local solution for cutting-edge single-stream recycling in Central Indiana, as we work with our communities to support the development of a circular economy in the state, fostered by impactful and meaningful education programs to recycle right.鈥�
WM鈥檚 investments in new and upgraded recycling facilities, including the WM Indianapolis Recycling Facility, are intended to:
- Increase overall recycling capacity in this market.
- Increase the capture rate of both traditional recycling materials and evolve into accepting materials that are traditionally difficult to recycle (such as film plastic).
- Expand the list of acceptable recyclable materials that WM manages for its customers
- Improve the quality, value, and marketability of the finished recycled bales, benefiting the economics of recycling for its commercial customers and municipal communities.
- Allow WM to manage inbound contamination or 鈥渘on-recyclables鈥� more efficiently and provide opportunities to educate customers on how to recycle right.
“The opening of the WM Indianapolis Recycling Facility is a significant milestone for Indiana鈥檚 manufacturing ecosystem. By investing in advanced optical sorting and glass recovery technology, WM is providing our state鈥檚 manufacturers with a reliable, local source of high-quality recycled materials,鈥� said Andrew Berger, president and CEO, Indiana Manufacturers Association. 鈥淭his facility does more than just process waste; it strengthens our supply chain resilience and helps Indiana companies meet the growing global demand for sustainable production. The IMA is proud to collaborate on a project that so clearly demonstrates how innovative environmental policy and industrial growth go hand in hand.”
鈥淧ratt Industries, Inc.聽is proud to work alongside聽WM to strengthen Indiana’s Circular Economy,鈥� said聽Shawn State, president, Pratt Recycling.聽鈥淧ratt聽Industries鈥� 鈥榗lose-the-loop鈥� system聽will recycle a聽portion聽of the聽cardboard and 100聽percent聽of the mixed paper generated from WM鈥檚 Indianapolis Recycling Facility and convert these recyclables into 100聽percent聽recycled packaging.聽 Pratt is聽also聽supportive of聽including paper cups as an acceptable item for the City of聽Indianapolis, and聽paper cups will be recycled in the mixed paper bales.鈥�
This facility is part of WM鈥檚 enterprise-wide plans to invest more than $1.4 billion in 39 new and upgraded recycling facilities across North America from 2022 to 2027, which is expected to add approximately 2.8 million tons of incremental annual processing capacity by the end of 2027. These planned investments seek to increase WM鈥檚 ability to manage more recycled materials and potentially enhance access to recycling for its customers.