WM Recycle America Begins Work on New Single-Stream Recycling Facility in Houston

HOUSTON, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- WM Recycle America, LLC (WMRA) of Houston today announced an investment in recycling processing equipment known as "single-stream" in its hometown of Houston.  The company began installation in June on one of the most technologically advanced single-stream sorting systems in the country.  This system is due to be operational by late 2010.

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Single-stream technology allows users to put all of their recyclables in a single bin, increasing convenience and therefore the typical amount of recycling by up to 30 percent.  This large single-stream sorting system in the Houston facility has the latest technology for handling large volumes while still separating the commingled recyclables into clean end products.  The system includes several screens to separate the mixed recyclables into newspaper, mixed paper, plastic containers and glass.  The system also includes several optical near infrared sorters to do final clean up and sorting of mixed paper, containers, PET, tetrapack and mixed plastics automatically.

WMRA's Houston system will also include two new and unique pieces of technology: a "paper magnet" for removing small fiber and recyclable residue from the container stream and a "paper spike" that mechanically removes boxboard/chipboard from newspaper.  It will also include magnets and eddy currents and two large balers for the finished products.  

"Our commercial customers have already seen the benefits of our integrated recycling and we believe our residential customers will, too," said Alan Stein, Director of Recycling, WM South Texas.  "The less work the customer has to do to get these materials to the curb really helps increase participation.  Everyone is busy but wants to do their part in making our planet green.  We are excited to help make this a reality by investing in this type of technology."  

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 the largest residential recycler and a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more about Waste Management, visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.

WM Recycle America, LLC is a subsidiary of Waste Management and is the largest residential recycler in North America.  WM Recycle America's business lines include processing many types of consumer-generated recyclables and finding the best markets for the recyclable commodities produced.  In its capacity of providing processing and marketing services, WM Recycle America offers a wide variety of recycling options for municipal, manufacturing, commercial and residential customers.

SOURCE Waste Management