Recycling expands in Detroit area

Waste Management of Michigan will bring a single stream recycling facility (SSRF) to the Detroit metropolitan area. Single stream recycling collection programs are expanding in southeastern Michigan, and to meet customer demand, this planned facility would process the increasing volumes of recyclable material generated by Waste Management’s commercial and residential customers across southeast Michigan.

A single stream facility eliminates the need for customers to separate recyclable materials prior to collection, since sophisticated material-handling equipment inside the SSRF handles the task. According to Tom Horton, vice president of public affairs for Waste Management’s Mid-West Group, this makes it easier for customers to recycle. Experience has shown that recyclable material volumes increase an average of 20 to 30 percent after customers switch to single stream collection. Waste Management has 35 SSRF’s in operation across the country.

Single stream recycling streamlines and simplifies the process of collecting and processing recyclable materials. In a single-stream system, residents and commercial customers place recyclables in a single container for pickup and no longer need to separate these materials in their homes or workplaces.

The Waste Management single stream facility will give the company processing control over a segment of its operations it has traditionally outsourced.