Recycling facilities continue to get infrastructure and capacity upgrades across the United States to capture more materials and ramp up efficiency.
This month, operators have announced both large-scale facility construction projects as well as smaller, more targeted equipment installations. Meanwhile, local communities in Michigan and Missouri are weighing in about how recycling facility operations affect their neighborhoods.
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Republic Services breaks ground on Missouri recycling facility
Republic Services broke ground on a 105,000-square-foot recycling center in Bridgeton, Missouri. When the St. Louis Recycling Center opens in 2028, it's expected to serve numerous businesses as well as about 3 million residents in the region.
Republic projects the facility will process up to 45 tons per hour and feature advanced technology, including optical sorters and artificial intelligence systems.
During construction, the facility will support 200 full-time construction jobs. Once the facility is operational, it will employ around 60 people full-time, Republic said. Republic Services currently has more than 1,000 employees in Missouri.
Republic Services has a network of 80 recycling centers, which it says has helped divert 6.4 million tons of recyclables from disposal in 2025. Other recycling projects in the works include a polymer processing center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which it expects to open next year. That facility will be the third of Republic’s polymer centers, designed to process plastics collected from curbside recycling programs.
Republic also recently upgraded its Peabody Recycling Center in Massachusetts to add automated and AI-powered sorting equipment.
Circular Services’ Florida MRF focuses on residue line with new AI, robotics from Glacier
Glacier, a provider of AI-enabled robotic sorting equipment, has deployed new equipment at Circular Services’ Sarasota MRF in Florida.
The new system is located on the facility’s residue line. A Glacier robot will target recyclable materials such as aluminum cans and HDPE, preventing the material from being sent to disposal, Circular Services said in a news release.
The setup also includes an AI scanner, which is positioned upstream to measure how much recyclable materials remain in the residue stream. The robot and scanner combination aims to help the facility recover more valuable material and get insight into how to improve capture, Circular Services said in a release.
The new Glacier installation builds upon the facility’s existing use of automation. The Sarasota facility, which was acquired from Single Stream Recyclers in 2020, was Florida’s first AI-powered recycling facility, Circular Services said. It can process 50 tons an hour of residential and commercial single-stream material and uses a combination of robotics, optical sorters and other equipment.
“We're focused on technology that performs consistently, improves productivity, and gives our operators better visibility into the facility, shift after shift,” said Jamie Lowrey, vice president of Circular Services’ East Region.
Rebecca Hu-Thrams, co-founder and CEO of Glacier, said the partnership was a strong fit because Circular Services is already familiar with how automation can improve operations and has a vision for how to further optimize those processes.
“That focus on uptime, productivity, and ROI is exactly what we prioritize at Glacier,” she said in a statement.
More recycling facility news
- Community concern over Michigan recycling center: County commissioners in Genesee County, Michigan, are searching for a new location for a planned recycling facility after residents expressed concerns about the project’s proximity to neighborhoods. The original site, a former dairy facility, was demolished to make way for a year-round recycling center that would also accept electronics and household hazardous waste. Commissioners said about $1.5 million has already gone into the project. (WNEM)
- Drop-off recycling in Oregon: More RecycleOn drop-off centers have opened in Oregon supported by the state’s extended producer responsibility program for packaging. The drop-off centers are designed for “tricky-to-sort materials” that can’t go in curbside recycling but can still be recycled in the state. One of the new centers is at the Curry Transfer and Recycling center in Brookings, which now accepts items such as plastic bags, plastic lids and aluminum foil and trays. The goal is to open 144 of the centers by 2027, according to Circular Action Alliance. (Curry Pilot)
- Recycling fee back on city ballot in Missouri: Voters in Hannibal, Missouri, will be given another chance to vote on a recycling fee that was previously used to support recycling operations at 2 Rivers Industries, which employs people with disabilities. Voters defeated a measure to extend the funding earlier this year by just 10 votes. City council members approved a request to put the measure back on the ballot for April 2027 because of the narrow margin of defeat. (Courier Post)
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