Republic Services publishes 2015 Sustainability Report

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): Phoenix-based recycling major Republic Services has announced publication of its 2015 Sustainability Report. The report highlights the success of recently launched Blue Planet sustainability initiative and describes the various initiatives undertaken during the year in its journey towards achieving sustainability goals.

According to the report, Republic Services collected and processed roughly 5 million tons of recyclables in 2015 across 67 recycling centers, consisting mainly of paper (73%), organics (10%), glass (7%) and plastic (5%). During the year, the company accepted more than 1.8 million tons of green waste and over 255,000 tons of food waste. The report identifies five elements of sustainability-Operations, Materials Management, Communities, Safety and People.

In 2015, Republic Services invested $36 million in expanded recycling capabilities. It invested in a major expansion at its Anaheim Recycling Center with a new state-of-the-art, 100-ton per hour commercial recycling system. The expansion is expected to more than triple the recycling capacity at the 250,000 sq. ft. complex. Investments in recycling capacities in multiple markets in Iowa have resulted in significant growth of company’s market share in other parts of its business. Also, the company made investment in the Northern Virginia Recycling Center and initiated substantial revitalization project at the facility. The new Southern Nevada Recycling Center continues to be the company’s flagship recycling center, serving nearly 550,000 households in the area.

The company, in partnership with Lab USA, successfully deployed an innovative technology that extracts and recovers metals previously lost with disposal. The technology is expected to help recover and recycle more than 46,200 tons of ferrous metals and 42,900 tons of non-ferrous metals from Roosevelt Regional Landfill alone, over the next 10 years. The process of recycling iron and copper into new products is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and 60% respectively.

Republic Services donated approximately $5 million in cash and in-kind donations as well as countless volunteer hours to non-profit organizations across the country during the year. It also invested in research and awareness of deadly diseases and promoted academic opportunity and enrichment for underprivileged youth. In addition, it helped to improve the health and well-being of nation’s veterans. The company invested approximately $6.7 million towards local sponsorships of community organizations.

The company has set the following four sustainability goals to be achieved by 2018:

Goal 1- Add an additional 150,000 tons per year or more of recycling capability

Goal 2-Develop at least two landfill gas-to-energy projects per year through 2018.

Goal 3-Reduce fleet emissions from its direct operational impacts by 3%.

Goal 4-Reduce OSHA recordable rates by 7% year-over-year.

Republic Services, Inc. is an industry leader in U.S. recycling and non-hazardous solid waste.  Through its subsidiaries, Republic's collection companies, recycling centers, transfer stations and landfills focus on providing effective solutions to make proper waste disposal effortless for their commercial, industrial, municipal, residential and oilfield customers. It owns 340 collection operations, 198 transfer stations, 189 active solid waste landfills, 60 recycling centers, and more than 70 landfill gas and renewable energy projects.