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New facility is built to process 70 tons of
recyclables per hour.
November 12, 2015 / Recycling Today Staff
Republic Services, Inc., based in Phoenix, has opened a new residential recycling center
in Las Vegas that is built to process 70 tons of recyclables per hour and is
expected to double recycling capacity in the area, the company says. The
facility will serve customers throughout Southern Nevada.
The recycling center is located next to an existing 88,000-square-foot
recycling facility. Together they comprise the largest known residential
recycling operation in North America, Republic says.
“This is a special day for people throughout Southern Nevada, especially our
customers,” says Tim Oudman, area president of Republic Services. “A recycling
center of this magnitude is a bold undertaking, and reflects our community’s
commitment to environmental responsibility. Southern Nevada is home to
considerable natural beauty and we are truly proud to invest in its
preservation.”
The Southern Nevada Recycling Center features several advanced recycling
technologies, including five optical sorters which use 2D and 3D technologies
to make material separation decisions in milliseconds. The Center’s recycling
systems also provide operators with a highly automated, touch screen control
system, as well as tablet-based capabilities that allow for real time systems
management and monitoring, data acquisition and remote access.
“The City of North Las Vegas is proud to be the home of the nation’s largest
residential recycling complex,” says John J. Lee, mayor of North Las Vegas.
"We take tremendous pride in the facility and in the contributions it will
make to both the economy and the environment. And we commend Republic Services
for creating a Learning Center that will inspire many new recyclers, both young
and old.”
Republic installed a Learning Center in the Southern Nevada Recycling Center
which features sustainability-oriented educational displays and community
videos, as well as a live video stream of recycling operations. The Learning
Center also offers visitors a 360-degree view of the recycling process in an
observation deck that sits above live operations. The Learning Center is
intended to be a special resource for the community and customers, as well as
an educational destination for sustainability minded Las Vegas tourists.
Sustainability was a priority throughout the design and construction of the
Southern Nevada Recycling Center, Republic says. More than 75 percent of the
110,000 square foot building was made from recycled or remanufactured steel.
There are 1,776 solar energy panels on the roof that are expected to generate
enough renewable energy to fulfill 15 percent of the building’s power
requirements. Inside the building, automatic low-flow water fixtures will
reduce consumption by more than 20 percent. Within the Learning Center,
sustainability was incorporated into every facet of the displays and design.
Outside the building, the natural landscape was preserved and repurposed for
flood channel mitigation.
Republic Services operates 66 recycling centers nationwide, and processes
roughly 5 million tons of recyclable material annually.
Republic Services of Southern Nevada employs more than 1,300 people, and
operates a fleet of more than 400 collection trucks, including 100 trucks
powered by Compressed Natural Gas. In addition to the Southern Nevada Recycling
Center, Republic operates two transfer stations, one landfill and one natural
gas fueling station locally.
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