WM announced that it has opened an upgraded, $20 million recycling facility in Orange, Calif. The Orange Recycling Facility is expected to process up to 130,000 tons of material per year by leveraging advanced technology equipped with automation and AI 鈥淲M is proud to drive sustainability across Southern California as we鈥檝e committed $3 billion to recycling and renewable energy projects, including nearly $500 million in this region,鈥� said Mike Hammer, area vice president, WM of Southern California. 鈥淭hat includes AI and automation upgrades at our Orange and Azusa recycling facilities and the launch of our first California RNG plant in Simi Valley in 2025. These investments reflect WM鈥檚 dedication to innovation, improved technology, and a more sustainable future for our communities.鈥�
The upgraded Orange Recycling Facility uses advanced technology and design, using optical sorters with near infrared (NIR) and high-speed sensors to maximize recovery and quality, including higher grade paper and glass, is intended to:
- Allow the facility to collect and sort more types of paper and plastics, including materials it previously could not, such as yogurt containers made of polypropylene plastic.
- Process more material more efficiently, which supports recycling growth in the community.
- Reduce recycling contamination challenges and improve the quality of the end product, providing WM customers with bales of recycled material that can be used as feedstock to create new products, such as backpacks, boxes, water bottles, cans and apparel.
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.
In addition to the new recycling facility, since SB 1383, WM has invested over $30 million to expand to seven of its organics facilities with composting and anaerobic digestion.