Richardson city leaders joined other local officials at a ribbon cutting for Republic Service’s new, recycling center.

The 77,000 square-foot facility processes all recyclables from Richardson and several neighboring cities.  It’s located at 4200 E. 14th St. in Plano.

The recycling center can process 350 tons of recyclable material per day with highly advanced sorting technologies that can separate clean recyclables from other materials in milliseconds.

“It makes a lot of sense for the environment, it can make a lot of sense economically over time to recycle. This facility is here because there is a number of communities in this area that have recycling programs so, it supports that comprehensive plan and those long-term services that are municipal customers are interested in providing their citizens,” said Pete Keller, vice-president of recycling and sustainability at Republic Services.

In addition, the facility features a first-of-its-kind Learning Center where visitors of all ages can get a first-hand view of the recycling process from an observation deck, view educational videos and colorful displays and play interactive games.

To schedule a tour of the Learning Center, contact the Recycling Facility office in advance at 972-422-2341.  Visit www.cor.net/recycle for more information about Richardson’s recycling program.