Earth Month at WM: Creating Circular Solutions to Help Communities Across North America Thrive

At WM, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. As part of our commitment to deliver the circular solutions our customers and communities need to thrive, we are expanding access to recycling and broadening the availability of lower-emission energy sources in communities across North America. 

To do this, we are currently executing planned investments of approximately $3 billion in recycling and renewable natural gas (RNG) facilities from 2022 through 2026. Once complete, these investments are expected to result in 39 new or upgraded recycling facilities and 20 new WM-owned RNG facilities.

In celebration of “Earth Month,” I had the pleasure of attending four grand opening events for our high-tech, modernized facilities across the country. It was an incredible way to celebrate our commitment to the environment and the teams behind these important projects.

With these new facilities included, WM has completed eight out of 20 planned RNG facilities and 27 out of 39 planned recycling facilities, and we intend to open additional sites in 2025 as part of our enterprise-wide investment plans. This work is critical to WM’s ability to meet customer and community demand for recycled content and lower-emission energy sources.

Mesquite Creek Recycling Facility
We opened a new recycling facility in New Braunfels, Texas – one of the fastest growing markets in the U.S. – to help serve a community that previously had limited access to recycling. This $72 million, state-of-the-art facility is expected to process up to 144,000 tons of material per year by using advanced technology and artificial intelligence. With seven recycling facilities in Texas, WM is helping expand recycling access for communities across the state.

 

 

DeKalb RNG Facility
Just outside Chicago in DeKalb County, we invested $60 million to build a new renewable natural gas facility at our disposal site. The WM DeKalb RNG facility converts collected landfill gas to lower-emission RNG, which can be allocated to power thousands of area homes and natural gas-powered vehicles. WM has been a leader in the beneficial use of landfill gas for decades. WM’s RNG is pushed directly into natural gas pipelines, providing a lower-emission energy source for communities across North America.

 

 

Elkridge Recycling Facility
WM spent more than $50 million on equipment to build a new recycling facility in Howard County, Md., near Baltimore, which replaces our previous site at this location. The WM Elkridge Recycling Facility is highly automated and equipped with advanced sorting technologies, featuring a series of ballistic separators and optical sorters designed to quickly and efficiently separate material. This facility will serve approximately 2.7 million people across Maryland and Washington, D.C. and is capable of processing more than 250,000 tons of material per year.

 

Fairless RNG Facility
Outside of Philadelphia, WM invested around $131 million to build a new RNG facility at our disposal site. The Fairless RNG Facility is now the largest of its kind owned by WM. It will provide renewable energy using the waste collected from residents and businesses across Pennsylvania – there is no better story of circularity.

Of course, none of this work would be possible without our dedicated WM teams – whom we call “green collar workers” because their jobs help drive a more sustainable future – and the businesses, city and state officials and organizations that have supported us along the way. We know there’s power in community, and we’re grateful to all those that work with us to help create a more sustainable future. Let’s continue to reinvent what’s possible for society to be more sustainable – one community at a time. Happy Earth Month!