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Texas-based WM plans to invest $38 million in its Germantown recycling facility to enhance its recycling services. Photo courtesy of WM.
A waste management company operating in Wisconsin announced on Tuesday it will use $38 million to rebuild its recycling facility in Germantown so it can turn higher quality recovered products to manufacturers.
Formerly known as Waste Management, Texas-based WM plans to implement state-of-the-art recycling technology in the facility at W132 N10487 Grant Drive in Germantown, a company official said. The investment is part of a billion-dollar initiative by the company to invest in its recycling infrastructure, officials added.
The rebuilding will start with interior demolition in May and will wrap up in late December, company officials said. There won’t be significant changes to the exterior. In the meantime, WM will send recyclables to other plants in the region.
The plant is recycling only and receives material from all areas of Wisconsin, a company spokesperson said. The project was in planning for over two years
The United States generated a total of 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2018 – or 4.9 pounds per person per day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Of that amount, 69 million tons of waste was recycled that year.
In Wisconsin, paper products made up 21.3% of statewide municipal waste and plastic made up 17.1%. Metal and glass made up 4.6% and 2.2% of municipal waste respectively, while discarded construction materials filled up 6.8% of the state’s dumpsters and waste carts. Organics made up the biggest chunk of state waste overall at 30.4% of the state’s solid waste.
After the project is completed, WM expects the facility to recycle over 200,000 tons per year from communities and businesses throughout the state and sometimes surrounding areas, company officials said.
The company plans to invest $1 billion in investments in recycling infrastructure expected between 2022 and 2025, company officials said. The waste manager hopes to increase materials recovery companywide by 60% to 25 million tons by 2030.
“Sustainability is WM’s core business, and recycling is at its heart. This investment demonstrates that our commitment to growing recycling in the state of Wisconsin is stronger than ever,” WM Upper Midwest Area Vice President Frank Fello said in a statement.
