FACTS

1. Despite the challenges the municipal recycling sector has been facing, the 75 largest MRFs in North America still processed and shipped a total of nearly 8.2 million tons of recyclables in 2018.
2. Some MRFs handled and shipped more tons in 2018, including No. 1 facility, Sims Municipal Recycling’s Sunset Park MRF in Brooklyn, New York. That MRF shipped 241,884 tons in 2016. In 2018, that figure grew to 247,201 tons.
3. Other MRFs saw their total tons shipped decrease, including Resource Management Cos.’ Chicago Ridge, Illinois, MRF, which ranked in the No. 3 spot on 2019 list. That facility shipped 222,433 tons of recyclables in 2016, which declined to 203,307 tons in 2018. Casella Waste Systems Inc.’s Charlestown, Massachusetts, MRF (No. 4 on this year’s list) also saw a decrease in tons shipped in 2018 compared with 2016: 194,450 versus 204,580.
4. Houston-based Waste Management continues to dominate the list with a total of 21 MRFs. Toronto- based Waste Connections has 11 MRFs on the list, while Republic Services has 10.

STATS

• The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its 2018 National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report Dec. 17. The report shows that waste management and remediation services professions as a whole accounted for 95 deaths in 2018 (compared with 63 in 2017). Waste management and remediation services is the blanket term that encompasses waste collection, waste treatment and disposal and remediation and other waste management services professions. Waste collection saw 65 deaths in 2018 compared with 10 in waste treatment and disposal and 20 in remediation and other waste management services.
• Solid waste refuse and recyclable material collection remains the fifth deadliest job in the United States. By individual industry category, solid waste collection workers suffered 57 on-the-job fatalities, compared to 32 the year before. This represents a 78 percent increase in deaths in just one year. Solid waste landfills had three fatalities in 2018 compared with six in 2017. There were also 3 worker fatalities at material recovery facilities (MRFs) in 2018.