Germantown, Wis. – March 14, 2023 – WM today announced plans to invest $38 million in state-of-the-art recycling technology at the company’s recycling facility in Germantown, Wisconsin, which is one of the largest recycling processing facilities in the state. The project is expected to enable WM to process recyclables more efficiently and produce a higher quality product for manufacturers that use recovered material as feedstock.
The Germantown facility processes recyclables from communities and businesses throughout Wisconsin, and occasionally surrounding areas. WM plans to rebuild the plant with a state-of-the-art design incorporating new technologies for sorting residential and commercial recyclables.
“Sustainability is WM’s core business, and recycling is at its heart,” said WM Upper Midwest Area Vice President Frank Fello. “This investment demonstrates that our commitment to growing recycling in the state of Wisconsin is stronger than ever.”
The rebuilt plant is expected to enable the recovery of more recyclables at higher quality so manufacturers can turn recycled materials into new products and packaging, which supports WM commitments to the circular economy by encouraging the reuse of materials. The facility will have recycling capacity of over 200,000 tons per year.
The rebuild is slated to start in May, with completion expected in late December. WM has arranged to have recyclables processed at other recycling plants in the region in the interim.
The Germantown recycling project is among WM’s recently announced $1 billion in investments in recycling infrastructure expected between 2022 and 2025. WM aims to increase the recovery of materials companywide by 60% to 25 million tons by 2030.
About WM
WM (WM.com) is North America’s largest comprehensive waste management environmental solutions provider. Previously known as Waste Management and based in Houston, Texas, WM is driven by commitments to put people first and achieve success with integrity. The company, through its subsidiaries, provides collection, recycling and disposal services to millions of residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. With innovative infrastructure and capabilities in recycling, organics and renewable energy, WM provides environmental solutions to and collaborates with its customers in helping them achieve their sustainability goals. WM has the largest disposal network and collection fleet in North America, is the largest recycler of post-consumer materials and is the leader in beneficial reuse of landfill gas, with a growing network of renewable natural gas plants and the most gas-to-electricity plants in North America. WM’s fleet includes nearly 11,000 natural gas trucks – the largest heavy-duty natural gas truck fleet of its kind in North America – where more than half are fueled by renewable natural gas. To learn more about WM and the company’s sustainability progress and solutions, visit sustainability.wm.com.
Forward-looking Statements
WM, from time to time, provides estimates, comments on expectations relating to future periods and makes statements of opinion, view or belief about current and future events. This press release contains such forward-looking statements, including all statements regarding the amount and timing of future investments in recycling infrastructure and facilities and the outcome of such investments. You should view these statements with caution. They are based on the facts and circumstances as of the date the statements are made and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different. Please see Part I, Item lA of WM’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, available on the “Investors” page of www.wm.com, for information regarding such risks and uncertainties. WM assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of future events, circumstances or developments, or otherwise.
