The sustainability report for the nation’s largest hauler shows WM has increased recovered materials tonnage by only 5% since 2021, but has a 2025 goal of a 25% increase. | Ken Wolter/Shutterstock
Hauler WM appears unlikely to reach its 2025 interim goal for materials recovered for recycling, despite an increase from the baseline level, according to data from its latest sustainability report.
The nation’s largest hauler has increased volumes of recovered materials by 5% since the baseline year of 2021, the report showed, recording just over 16 million tons in 2024, compared to 15.3 million tons in 2021. WM has an interim goal of increasing recovered material volumes by 25% from 2021 by 2025, on its way to a 60% increase by 2030, a goal of 25 million tons per year.
The company did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
However, the company noted that 25 of its planned 39 recycling facility projects have been successfully delivered as of the report’s release. WM previously committed to investing $1.4 billion in recycling infrastructure from 2022 to 2026, adding an expected 2.8 million tons of annual recycling capacity. The company has added 1.5 million tons of annual processing capacity since 2022, and WM executives also discussed the investments during an investor presentation in late June.
In 2025, nine facilities are scheduled to open or be upgraded, with a combined additional capacity of 753,000 tons per year. So far this year WM has completed upgrades in Maryland and in Texas.
Next year’s five facility projects, including the Denver MRF expected to be complete by second-quarter 2026 and a proposed MRF in Portland, Oregon, are expected to add a total of 529,000 tons of capacity.
In 2024, WM completed 12 projects, including facilities built in two new markets – Fort Walton Beach in Florida and Brooklyn, New York – 10 facility upgrades, such as the Germantown location in Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. The company also highlighted that the new Brooklyn facility expands fiber recycling services to industrial, commercial and residential customers.
WM also recently completed a new, expanded facility at its Natura PCR mechanical film recycling company in Texas.
During its first-quarter 2025 earnings call, WM reported that its recycling segment spent $38 million during the quarter, lower by 67% on the year, though the company’s overall capital expenditures rose by 24% to $831 million.
Harder-to-recycle items
As for textile recycling, WM noted in the 2025 report that it is piloting robotic, near-infrared technology at one facility to sort apparel by fiber composition, color and metal presence. The company also is partnering with related companies including “an emerging fiber-to-fiber recycler, to help streamline the process of collecting and managing textiles.” In addition, WM is piloting post-consumer textile collection programs for both single- and multi-family housing.
In 2024 WM also improved its existing organics facilities in California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York, increasing annual processing capacity by 147,000 tons. WM facilities recovered nearly 3.8 million tons of organics in 2024, the report said.