Waste Management (WM), Houston, has announced plans to establish what it calls a technologically advanced facility in Toronto dedicated to processing scrap materials from building construction and demolition (C&D) sites.
The facility, scheduled to be in operation by the third quarter of 2012, was acquired by WM in late 2011. The company says the facility will undergo extensive upgrades, which are expected to exceed $16 million. The company says it expects the semi-automated single-stream recycling plant will process an estimated 87,000 metric tons of C&D material in its first full year.
Brad Muter, WM vice president for Eastern Canada, says the site was selected "because continued strong construction activity and population growth are anticipated in Toronto."
The C&D facility will support local and provincial government efforts to divert these materials from landfill.
"That's a vision we share," Muter notes. "Today, we manage waste for its resource potential."
The new C&D facility will allow WM to mine C&D materials for their valuable recyclable content. WM says one of its sustainability goals is to triple the volume of recyclable materials being processed by 2020.