Phoenix opens upgraded Materials Recovery Facility able to sort 30 tons per hour
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Summary
City officials on hand Thursday marked the grand reopening of the city’s upgraded Materials Recovery Facility, a public-private operation featuring new mechanical and optical sorting equipment, a 30-ton-per-hour throughput and partnerships aimed at boosting recycling and local circular-economy activity.
Assistant Public Works Director Lori Zaldesteller and Mayor Kate Gallego joined city staff, contractors and partners at the grand reopening of the 20 Seventh Avenue Materials Recovery Facility on Thursday, where officials said the upgraded plant will increase the city’s recycling recovery and support a local circular economy.
Zaldesteller, assistant public works director for the city’s Solid Waste Division, said the new facility “can process material at 30 tons per hour” and combines a trommel front end, two ballistic separators, a sorting robot and 11 optical sorters to improve recovery from curbside collection. She said the division provides collection to “over 420,000 City of Phoenix residents every week” and described the project as a four-year effort.
The mayor framed the reopening as part of the city’s sustainability goals and economic strategy. Mayor Kate Gallego said the plant will “help make sure that we can recycle more of what you put in your blue bin and that we can make a higher profit from selling those items because they'll be able to be reused more efficiently.” She said the facility supports Phoenix’s goal of reaching zero waste by 2050 and halving landfill disposals by 2030 and described the site as a future hub for entrepreneurs and school field trips tied to a larger Rio Reimagined plan.
City staff and contractors named at the ceremony included Deputy Public Works Director Eduardo Rodriguez and representatives from McCarthy Construction, Gannett Fleming, Machinex, Hiller (fire suppression) and Balcones Recycling, the private operator. Rodriguez recognized city engineers and project leads who helped deliver the upgrade and described a ceremonial activation and ribbon cutting followed by public tours.
Officials said the facility was designed to maximize recyclable recovery from Phoenix’s curbside stream and to support local recycling markets; the city also noted partnerships with Arizona State University on resource-innovation programming and international design work through C40 Cities’ Reinventing Cities initiative. The mayor and staff said the site is being developed with sustainability certifications in mind, including plans to pursue the Living Building Challenge for a future campus building.
No formal board votes or regulatory actions were taken at the event; the ceremony included the activation of the plant’s sorting system and a ribbon cutting. Staff said tours of the facility would follow the ceremony.
The remainder of the event featured acknowledgments of the construction and equipment teams and an invitation for attendees to tour the new plant and see the sorting equipment in operation.