September 24, 2025

WM’s New Recycling Facility Brings Big Improvements for Oregon 

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Recycling in Oregon just got another upgrade! Waste Management has opened a brand-new, high-tech recycling sorting facility in Portland, designed to help your recyclables have a cleaner, smarter, and more effective life cycle.

Smarter Sorting Makes a Difference

This facility integrated AI and advanced automation to accurately sort recycling. That means moreof your plastic, metal, cardboard, and paper make it through the system to be reused, with less contamination and better environmental impact.

✨♻️ Recycling Tip: Keep recyclables empty, dry, and loose (no plastic bags)! This helps ensure that your recycling gets its second life! ✨♻️

Bigger Capacity, Bigger Impact

The new WM facility can process up to 38 tons of material per hour. That translates into more recyclables being diverted from landfills and turned into new products, helping Oregon achieve its recycling goals.

High Quality Recycling for Real Results

End markets, the companies that use recycled materials to make new products, need clean, high-quality recyclables. This facility ensures that materials meet those standards, so your efforts at home are more likely to result in new cans, boxes, and packaging being made out of your recyclables.

A Key Step Toward Oregon’s Recycling Modernization Act

The facility comes online just as Oregon rolls out the Recycling Modernization Act . This law aims to make recycling easier, more consistent, and more effective across the state. Investments like this show how policy and technology are working together to modernize recycling for all Oregonians.

Make Your Recycling Count

You can help Oregon’s recycling system work even better by

  • Ensuring your containers are empty and dry before recycling.
  • Recycling loose items, not bagged.
  • Checking your local recycling acceptance list for what belongs in your bin and what doesn’t.

Every item you recycle correctly helps build a stronger, cleaner, and more sustainable Oregon for everyone.

Learn more about the new facility on WM website https://www.wmnorthwest.com/portlandrecycling/