Republic Services Inc., Phoenix, and Lab USA, Green Bay, Wisconsin, unveiled a new ash metal recovery facility at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Roosevelt, Washington. The process allows for the reclamation of metals found in ash previously lost through traditional methods of resource recovery. The facility is set to process all newly delivered ash to the Roosevelt Landfill as well as systematically process all of the existing ash currently in the landfill. Once recovered, the metals are recycled, shipped to manufacturers and repurposed to make new metal products.

The facility is estimated to recover and recycle more than 46,200 tons of ferrous metals and 42,900 tons of non-ferrous metals. Ferrous metals are those which contain iron such as steel, stainless steel and cast iron. Non-ferrous metals are those that do not contain iron and do not have a magnetic quality such as aluminum, copper, lead and tin.

Roosevelt Landfill utilizes the waste collected from municipalities across Washington and converts the methane gas into a renewable energy source. Working with the Klickitat Public Utility District, the landfill currently provides enough energy to power up to 30,000 local households annually.

"The Ash Processing Facility continues a tradition of environmental stewardship and technical innovation that has always been present at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill. Klickitat County is a proud partner with Republic Services and Lab USA," states Kevin Berry, Klickitat County Solid Waste director.

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, the energy consumption of recycling iron is 20 percent lower than that of mining and processing iron from natural resources. The International Copper Association reported that the energy savings from recycling copper is approximately 60 percent lower that of mining copper from natural resources. The planned recovery of 46,200 tons of ferrous metals from this facility is equivalent to constructing approximately six Eiffel Towers. The expected recovery of 4,290 tons of copper could make approximately 24.9 million linear feet of half-inch copper piping used to carry water in households. That is enough pipe to stretch from Roosevelt, Washington to New Orleans and back. Reclaiming these metals that were previously lost through traditional methods of resource recovery significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.