Date: June 30, 2009
Source: Waste Management, Inc.
Waste Management of Oregon Opens Ultra-Green Recycling Center
Metro Council President David Bragdon Welcomes Innovative Approach to Boost Recycling and Reduce Landfill Waste
Waste Management of Oregon today christened an expansive and ultra-green recycling center that will dramatically increase recycling and reduce landfill waste across Washington County.
The recycling center will accept construction and demolition castoffs that, in the past, have ended up in landfills. It will collect, sort and reclaim these materials – concrete, asphalt, wood, and metals – for use in new ways.
The 65,000-square-foot facility is central to Waste Management's efforts to help local and regional governments achieve aggressive new sustainability goals.
"This is a significant investment for Waste Management and a reflection of our commitment to advancing sustainability in Oregon," said Dean Kattler, vice president for Waste Management's Northwest Market Area.
"Recovering debris from construction and demolition sites and then putting it back to work in the community synchs up with our broader company strategies to use traditional waste in innovative, sustainable ways," Kattler said. "Instead of ending up in the landfill, these materials will be recovered and reused."
This process will result in important energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions as more materials are re-purposed.
"The new facility will help our region further progress in its commitment to recycling, preventing waste and ensuring sustainable, livable communities for generations to come," said David Bragdon, council president of Metro, the regional government serving residents in the 25 cities and three counties of the Portland metropolitan area.
"It will play a key role in the region's efforts to maximize recycling of construction and demolition materials and to reap the related environmental and economic benefits."
Innovative and sustainable design
Waste Management's new recycling center will also deliver significant energy savings and environmental benefits resulting from its innovative and sustainable features.
Designed and constructed to meet rigorous sustainability standards known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the center looks and operates differently than traditional recycling centers.
Most distinctive is the massive translucent roof that allows for natural lighting and reduces energy consumption. The roof includes a system to harvest rainwater and store it for later use on site. There is also a powerful ventilation system that circulates fresh air through the facility every 10 minutes.
Economic benefits
The new facility is a $10 million investment for Waste Management. The project involved 100 construction jobs and has resulted in 20 permanent jobs.
Recycling, landfill, wildlife habitat, wetlands
The new facility is at 3205 SE Minter Bridge Road near Hillsboro, where Waste Management also operates a landfill and manages more than 100 acres of certified wildlife habitat and wetlands. The site is home to 100 bird species and mammals, including great blue heron, deer, beaver, and rabbits.
The landfill is permitted to accept primarily construction and demolition debris. It does not accept household garbage or hazardous waste.
Open July 1
The new recycling center will open for commercial and residential use on July 1, accepting the following materials:
construction and demolition debris yard debris and stumps
concrete and asphalt wood
scrap metal clean dirt
corrugated cardboard container glass
appliances tires
car batteries motor oil
magazines, and newspapers tin cans,
plastic containers #1-7 scrap paper
About Waste Management
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. More information about how Waste Management Thinks Green® can be found at www.wm.com/wm/thinkgreen.
For more information, contact:
Waste Management of Oregon
Jackie Lang
Director of Sustainability & Community Outreach
503-705-0007
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New Recycling Center Taps Green Technology to Give A Second Life to Construction Debris and Provide Relief to Local Landfills
Despite Tough Economy, Green Business Continues to be a Good Investment and Job Generator
Today, business and community environmental leaders joined executives from Waste Management (WM) to unveil a Construction and Demolition (C&D) Processing and Recycling Center that will generate new green jobs in El Cajon. Using the latest in eco-technology, the facility will recover and process up to 130,000 tons of commercial construction waste, as well as traditional recyclables, annually.
The C&D Processing and Recycling Center was built in response to growing consumer and government interest in green programs to both reduce the amount of building materials waste going to landfills and to encourage reuse, recycling and recovery. C&D accounts for more than 22 percent of the overall waste stream in California, 35 percent of the waste at Miramar Landfill, and it is estimated at more than 100,000 tons annually for the unincorporated areas of the county and over 1 million tons countywide.
"The new facility will play an important role in reducing San Diego's landfill deposits and carbon emissions footprint," said Carl Scherbaum, Waste Management of San Diego's district manager. "We have provided Construction and Demolition collection services to developers since the 70's. With the new sort line, we can take it to the next level and help contractors actually recycle these materials as opposed to simply hauling them to the landfill."
From sheet rock and concrete to wood and metal, the $7 million, state-of-the-art sorting line, custom built for WM by Lubo, separates C&D recyclable items from the waste stream collected at commercial building sites or home remodeling projects. The line also has state-of-the-art TiTech optical sorting capabilities for the processing of dry recyclables such as aluminum cans, glass and newspapers from commercial trash loads. Fully staffed, the line could employ up to 30 people and process up to 30-35 tons per hour of C&D materials and approximately 25 tons per hour of dry recyclables.
"The sort line's advanced technology allows us to process up to 50 times the amount of recyclables as a traditional manual sort line," continued Scherbaum. "This investment into San Diego's green infrastructure not only demonstrates our long term commitment to recycling in San Diego, but also reaffirms our strong belief that green solutions make good business sense, even in this economy."
The materials processed through the sort line can be sold for use in a number of different ways. Sheet rock may be transformed into soil amendment for farming applications while scrap metal can be recycled to make other steel products. Wood can be processed into landscape cover or used to generate green power.
"This is a fantastic new recycling operation that will conserve resources and make our environment healthier," said Margo Reid Brown, chair of the California Integrated Waste Management Board. "We applaud Waste Management for its innovative approach to giving construction materials a second life and giving everyone in San Diego more opportunities to live green."
In addition to launch of the new sort line, WM recently introduced the Green Squad™ to provide businesses a resource for turn-key sustainability. The team of eco-consultants works to assess a company's green practices – water efficiency, energy efficiency, general sustainability and waste to resource management – and develop a comprehensive sustainability strategy. The Green Squad also provides C&D consulting services to businesses and contractors to help them manage waste materials such as determining the best options for diversion and coordinating the entire process from collection to hauling.
"Combined with Waste Management's overall eco-friendly programs and business practices, the Green Squad is another resource businesses can tap to operate as sustainable as possible," said Mike Schwartz, LEED AP an eco-solutionist and business development manager for the Green Squad. "With today's technology, it truly is possible for businesses of all types to save money and resources by operating green."
About Waste Management
Waste Management is the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America. For more information about how we think green, log onto www.wastemanagementsd.com.
For more information, contact:
Audrey Doherty, Jordan Cole
(619) 236-8397
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