Republic Services, Inc. celebrated the opening of Republic’s state-of-the-art Salt River Recycling Center. The new facility will play a vital role in helping improve recycling rates in the valley with higher capacity and more modern technology than its predecessor.
The 51,000 sq.ft. recycling center, located in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, will manage recyclables from approximately 1.4 million residents and more than 2,000 businesses throughout the Valley. The facility will process up to 40 tons, or 8 truckloads, of recyclables per hour, including paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs, metal food and beverage cans and glass bottles and jars.
Republic Services and local community leaders celebrate the grand opening of the Salt River Recycling Center.
“The new Salt River Recycling Center reinforces Republic Services’ commitment to circularity, sustainability and the community,” said area president Javara Perrilliat.
The facility leverages cutting-edge recycling technology, including five optical sorters that use digital recognition to identify and separate paper or plastic in milliseconds and artificial intelligence to help reduce contamination. AI system data also enables operators to make real-time adjustments to maximize the volume of materials recycled.
Plastics from the Salt River Recycling Center will be transported to Republic’s new Polymer Center in Las Vegas, the first facility of its kind in North America. The Polymer Center’s processes will grind, sort and wash the plastics so they can become new bottles, jugs and containers, enabling true bottle-to-bottle circularity.
