WM Breaks Ground on $30 Million Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Northwest Florida
WM announced plans for its latest material recovery facility (MRF) at a groundbreaking ceremony today in Fort Walton Beach, FL. Centrally located within the City of Fort Walton Beach in Okaloosa County, it is expected to be the first fully automated, full-scale recycling facility in Northwest Florida and will provide recycling capabilities for an area covering Biloxi, MS to Tallahassee, FL. The facility is expected to be operational in Q2 2024.
Special guests attending the groundbreaking ceremony included City of Fort Walton Beach Mayor Dick Rynearson, Okaloosa County Commission Chair Trey Goodwin, Okaloosa County District 3 Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel, Okaloosa County District 3 Commissioner Nathan Boyles, City of Mary Esther Mayor Chris Stein, Town of Shalimar Mayor Mark Franks, Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber Chair Maureen Bierman, One Okaloosa Economic Development Council Executive Board Member Bernard Johnson, and WM Gulf Coast Area Vice President Brandon Shaw.
Once operational, the addition of the new WM MRF in Northwest Florida – with state-of-the-art technology, including optical sorters, non-wrapping screens, and an OCC screen – will help allow the region’s recycling programs to expand and produce higher quality material for customers that use the recycled material as feedstock to manufacture new products.
The Fort Walton Beach MRF is anticipated to be approximately 45,000 square feet with the expected capacity to process approximately 120,000 tons per year of single-stream and source separated recyclables.
“WM is pleased to announce our investment in building a state-of-the-art recycling material recovery facility right here in Fort Walton Beach,” said Brandon Shaw, WM Gulf Coast Area Vice President. “WM is committed to serving Northwest Florida and bringing sustainable solutions to the area as well as working together with local communities throughout the region to increase recycling through education and outreach.”
This project is part of WM’s previously announced enterprise-wide plans to invest $1 billion in recycling infrastructure through 2025, including automating existing facilities and developing new facilities. With the demand for recycled content products expected to rise, the investments are expected to enable WM to capture more recycled materials and increase access to recycling for its customers.
