WM of Florida is planning an $88 million redevelopment of its Tampa material recovery facility site in East Ybor.
The project would replace the function of the existing plant with a larger, more automated recycling operation designed to expand processing capacity.
The project is planned for an 11-acre site at 1400 N 35th St.
Plans call for construction of a new 109,000-square-foot material recovery facility next to the existing building, according to company officials and documents submitted to the City of Tampa.
Construction is expected to begin in spring 2026, with the facility targeted to open in late 2027.
The new facility is designed to handle higher volumes and support municipal recycling programs across the region.
A replacement facility built around automation
The new plant is designed to process approximately 220,000 tons of recyclables per year, operating at about 50 tons per hour on a dual-line system.
That represents a substantial increase over the existing facility, which processes roughly 35 tons per hour.
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“This is a whole new building,” said Dawn McCormick, director of communications and government affairs for WM in Florida. “It will replace the function of the existing facility.”
The current building will remain on site, but its future use has not been finalized.
It could include construction and demolition debris recycling, use as a transfer station or potential demolition.
Technology reshaping recycling operations
The Tampa facility will be built around advanced automation, including 17 optical sorters designed to separate materials more efficiently and with greater precision.
The system enables WM to recover materials that were previously difficult to extract, producing cleaner bales for resale.
That includes polypropylene plastics such as yogurt tubs and plastic cups, as well as plastic film like grocery bags and packaging wrap.
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“The advantage of this technology is that you can process more material more efficiently and produce a cleaner product,” McCormick said. “That improves the economics of recycling for our business and for our municipal customers.”
While the facility relies more heavily on automation, McCormick said it still requires manual sorting roles.
WM plans to upskill existing employees to work alongside advanced systems.
Cleaner materials also command higher market prices, strengthening the economics of recycling operations and expanding what municipalities can recycle locally.
Part of a broader investment philosophy
The Tampa project is part of WM’s broader investment philosophy, which centers on scaling recycling infrastructure through automation and modernization.
The company plans to invest more than $1.4 billion in new and upgraded recycling facilities across North America, an effort expected to add approximately 2.8 million tons of incremental annual processing capacity.
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The East Ybor facility follows similar projects elsewhere in Florida, including a recently completed plant in Pembroke Pines that operates at higher throughput using comparable technology.
What happens next
If completed as planned, the East Ybor facility would significantly increase Tampa Bay’s recycling capacity.
It would also align the region with WM’s broader push toward automated, higher-value recycling infrastructure.
