ZWS opens new recycling facility

Zero Waste Solutions LLS (ZWS), Rochester, Massachusetts, announced May 20 that it has opened its new 103,000-square-foot advanced recycling facility that will accept residential and commercial waste streams as well as single-stream recyclables and source-separated recyclables.

ZWS is the sister company of New Bedford, Massachusetts-based ABC Disposal Service Inc. and New Bedford Waste Services LLC.

ZWS says it worked side by side with San Diego-based CP Group to outfit the facility with the latest recycling technologies that will allow the plant to produce sought-after commodities.

“We are very pleased to announce today that after a very long process, our Zero Waste Solutions recycling plant is now opened and processing materials into salable commodities,” ZWS President and CEO Michael Camara says. “CP Group of San Diego, California, completed installing the recycling equipment with all of the latest technologies on Friday, May 17.”

“CP is pleased to assist Mr. Camara and Zero Waste in seeing this project through,” Terry Schneider, president and CEO of CP Group, says. “We are very proud to have our newest sorting equipment featured in this state-of-the-art system that will serve the needs of ABC Disposal’s customer base for years to come.”

The new facility will be partially powered by 88,000 square feet of solar-powered panels. Camara says this will allow the site to harness affordable, renewable energy to power its operations.  

“By installing the 3,500 solar panels on our roof, we’ll receive about 30 percent of our electrical needs from green energy,” he says.

The new facility has been equipped with a variety of new recycling technologies, including different size screening systems, magnets, eddy current systems to target aluminum and sophisticated optical sorting systems. These systems are all designed to automatically separate recyclable materials into different categories of commodities.

“Combining the capabilities of our network of transfer stations and vast hauling operations as well as ZWS’ advanced recycling technologies, we will be able to develop extremely efficient recycling operations,” Camara says. “These advanced recycling technologies will allow us to improve our ability to process a larger percentage of materials, which can then be recycled, reused and diverted from disposal. We have installed the most technologically advanced separation equipment available to achieve the highest recycling rates.

“Having our ZWS recycling facility finally opening … will benefit our customers for many years to come. We are very proud opening one of the most technically advanced recycling facilities in the world and a great asset for Massachusetts,” he concludes.