WM has upgraded its Orange Recycling Facility in Southern California. With the $20 million investment in advanced technology equipped with automation and artificial intelligence (AI), the site is expected to process up to 130,000 tons of material per year.
The upgraded Orange Recycling Facility uses optical sorters with near infrared (NIR) and high-speed sensors to maximize recovery and quality, including producing higher-grade paper and glass.
WM says the upgrades will allow it to collect and sort more types of paper and plastics, including materials it previously could not, such as yogurt containers made of polypropylene plastic; process more material more efficiently, which supports recycling growth in the community; and reduce recycling contamination challenges and improve the quality of the end product, allowing WM to provide customers with bales of recycled material that can be used as feedstock to create new products, such as backpacks, boxes, water bottles, cans and apparel…