Video: Tour of a Recycling Center That You Actually Want to See
Single-stream recycling may not seem like a big deal. But, as the amount of waste we create continues to rise, making recycling easier for the average citizen is a must.
The new Arizona Community Ecocenter Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Surprise, Ariz. is giving the Phoenix metropolitan area a new way to make the most of its waste. According to Waste Management, the $20 million facility will create 30 to 40 permanent jobs. It can move material 2.5 times faster than the previous facility and processes more than 25 tons of material per hour.
Beyond what happens inside, the Ecocenter itself is a sustainable building, currently vying for LEED Silver certification. Its features include translucent window panels to allow for natural light, solar water heater panels and low-water use plumbing fixtures.
Earth911 met up with Carrie Galvin, Waste Management of Arizona’s director of recycling operations, for a behind-the-scenes tour of the new Ecocenter. Check out the video above to see the exciting twists and turns, including a few things that shouldn’t go in your curbside recycling (hint: a milk jug full of medical sharps and Old Glory should find better end-of-life options).
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5 Ways to Be a Better Recycler
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As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments.
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Laura
posted on March 12th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Yeah!!! I’m a bit “weird,” but that looked like lots of fun to tour (and … a cool place to work!). Thanks for showing us the “latest and greatest” in a Material Recovery Facility!!