Four years ago, SIMS Group expanded into curbside recycling in the United States. The company has since become a cornerstone of New York City’s recycling system, processing and marketing the approximately 240,000 tons of plastic, glass and metal that New Yorkers put into recycling bins each year.

Materials are received from City collection vehicles at Sims Group facilities and then moved between facilities by barge to minimize truck traffic and air pollution within the City. The materials are sorted by commodity type, packaged and shipped to manufacturers as raw material for new products, once again.

As part of its long-term partnership with New York City, Sims Municipal Recycling has drawn up plans for the development of a new recycling facility located at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. Relying primarily on barges for transportation, this state-of-the-art facility will use magnets to pull off steel, eddy currents to capture non-ferrous metals, and blowers, screens and optical sorters to separate paper, plastics and glass. The project will bring more than 100 permanent “green collar” jobs to the Sunset Park area. The facility will also include an education center to teach children about their role in the recycling process, and to highlight the role of New York City’s recycling program in a sustainable future.

Recycling rates nationwide have more than doubled in the last 15 years to 31%, due to the efforts of companies like Sims, increased global demand for commodities, and ever growing public awareness of environmental issues.

In Europe, where Sims operates numerous recycling facilities, recycling programs are even more ambitious than in the United States, and the recovery rate is closer to sixty percent.

Moving forward, Sims Municipal Recycling will make use of its resources and build on its experience to bring efficient and effective curbside recycling services to other municipalities across the US.