Waste Management to build Ontario’s largest private-sector recycling facility in Cambridge

$30-million investment will create up to 80 jobs, boost local economy, and help reduce dependence on landfill disposal

CAMBRIDGE (February 2, 2012) — Waste Management (WM) announced today that it will build a single-stream recycling centre in Cambridge, Ontario, that will process up to 550,000 tonnes of material a year. 

WM has already acquired the property and existing plant at 505 Conestoga Blvd., and will now begin a major retrofit. Scheduled to begin operations this Fall, it will be the largest private-sector recycling facility in the province. The total investment is expected to be approximately $30 million. 

Approximately 80 local green jobs will be created at the 126,000-squate-foot plant when it becomes operational, and this employment figure could increase as recycling volumes grow over time. 

As well, the area economy will get a boost during the construction and operation of the centre as WM sources local suppliers and contractors wherever possible. 

A single-stream recycling facility (SSRF) eliminates the need for customers to separate recyclable materials prior to collection, since sophisticated material-handling equipment inside the SSRF handles the task. This makes it easier for customers to recycle. Experience has shown that recyclable material volumes increase an average of 20% to 30% after customers switch to single-stream collection. 

The Cambridge plant will use advanced technology that includes magnets, screens and optical scanners to separate, sort and process a variety of materials, including: 

• residential and commercial cardboard, paper, glass, plastics and metals
• construction and demolition waste materials
• electronic equipment such as cell phones and computers
• compact fluorescent light bulbs and batteries

Brad Muter, WM’s Vice President for Eastern Canada, noted that the recycling centre will support Ontario’s landfill diversion goals, and it furthers the company’s commitment to helping customers extract more value from their waste. 

“This project is one of several being undertaken by Waste Management in Ontario as part of the company’s broad investment in new technologies to better manage waste for its resource potential,” Muter said. 

“WM is much more than a waste collection company. Today we mine these materials for their valuable recyclable content. This is good for the environment, and quite frankly, good for business. It sets us apart in the environmental services field.”

One of WM’s sustainability goals is to triple the volume of recyclable materials being processed by 2020.

About Waste Management 

Waste Management, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company’s customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com. 

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