Waste Management opens automated recycling facility in Florida

Waste Management has opened a new automated recycling facility in Pembroke Pines, Florida, in a move the company is using to show that recycling can be a growth business rather than just a cost center.

The opening gives South Florida more local processing capacity and adds another piece to Waste Management's broader push to modernize recycling operations through automation.

According to Barron's, the facility cost about $90 million and can process 60 tons of recyclable material an hour. The plant is designed to serve four South Florida counties.

Waste Management recycling vice president Brent Bell was quoted in the report on the opening. Barron's said the company has spent $1.4 billion on recycling infrastructure upgrades since 2022.

A broader automation push

The Pembroke Pines site is part of a larger rollout. Barron's reported that Waste Management expects five new or upgraded recycling facilities like the Florida plant to open in 2026.

The company is also planning another similar facility in Tampa, Florida, that Barron's said should become operational next year. Taken together, the projects suggest Waste Management is building out a wider regional recycling network in the state.

Barron's said the company has reduced labor at the facilities by 30% while adding capacity for 2.8 million more tons of material a year. That is the core of Waste Management's argument that recycling can be run more efficiently at scale.

Why it matters

The opening matters because it adds capacity in a region where moving recyclable material efficiently can be difficult, and because it gives Waste Management another example of how infrastructure spending can support both service coverage and margins.

It also comes against the backdrop of weak U.S. recycling performance and low public confidence in the system. Barron's framed Waste Management's investment as part of a broader industry test of whether automation and higher-throughput plants can improve recycling economics.

For now, the main open questions are how the Pembroke Pines plant affects throughput, margins and local service levels, and when the company will disclose more detail about the Tampa project and other planned openings.