Glendale recycling impacted after Surprise landfill fire

GLENDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — Glendale is temporarily unable to process its recycling after a major landfill fire in Surprise last month damaged the facility the city uses to handle recyclable materials.

City officials said curbside recycling pickup will continue as normal, and residents should keep placing recyclable items in their green bins.

For now, those materials are being stockpiled at a transfer station while Glendale works to secure another processing option.

The issue stems from a fire at a Waste Management facility in the northwest Valley, where Glendale sends all of its single-stream recyclables.

“They had a significant fire, which damaged the entire facility,” said Michael Carr, Glendale’s deputy director for field operations. “This is for our single stream recycling program that we collect at the curb.”

Because the facility is out of service, Glendale’s recycling operations are effectively on hold.

City urges residents to keep recycling

Even though residents may not notice a change — since crews are still emptying recycling bins — the materials are not currently being taken to a recycling plant.

“So what we really want to stress to residents is that your curbside recycling is not changing. So just keep putting your recyclables out as you always have,” Carr said.

Carr said the city is stockpiling everything they are picking up while they figure out what to do next.

“We’re confident that we’re going to be able to continue processing the materials at the same level, but possibly a different location or obviously a different location and then through a different provider,” Carr said.

Waste Management is working on repairs to the facility. It is unclear when Glendale’s recycling will return to normal.

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