Dive Brief:
- Balcones Recycling, a division of Circular Services, is building a $61 million MRF in Frisco, Texas. Circular Services announced the groundbreaking of the 120,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday.
- The company expects to process single-stream recyclables for North Texas communities, including McKinney and Frisco, when the MRF opens in the spring of 2026. It will mainly sell those recycled commodities in North American markets, according to a news release.
- Balcones, one of the largest privately held recycling companies in the U.S., says the location is ideal due to the region’s increasing population and recent business growth. The MRF will also serve as a regional “circularity campus” to offer other “material management services” for municipal and commercial customers.
Dive Insight:
The new MRF is the latest Texas-based project for Circular Services, which operates five other MRFs in the state. Texas has been Balcones’ company’s home base since the ‘90s, when it was known as Balcones Resources.
Closed Loop Partners acquired Balcones, along with Sims Municipal Recycling, then merged the two to become Balcones Recycling in 2023. Balcones is now a business unit of Circular Services, a company of Closed Loop Partners that launched in 2022 with plans to offer a range of recycling services.
Last summer, Balcones and Circular Services opened a $68 million MRF in San Antonio meant to handle recycled materials from Balcones’ 15-year contract with the city.
Building a MRF in Frisco has been a long-term project for Circular Services and “represents a major step forward for recycling infrastructure in North Texas,” said Joaquin Mariel, Circular Services’ chief commercial officer, in a statement. “We have been working on this for more than a decade, recognizing both the opportunity and the need for enhanced recycling infrastructure in the region.”
KDW will design and build the facility, which is expected to employ about 53 people full-time. The MRF will have a range of “cutting edge” sortation technology, and it will also offer a drop-off center for residents to bring materials not accepted in the region’s residential curbside program, the company said in a news release.
“By integrating the latest innovations in recycling technology with a strong focus on employee wellbeing and community engagement, we are dedicated to making this facility a model for sustainability and efficiency,” Mariel said.
Balcones has more than 20 operating locations across Texas, New York, New Jersey, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Illinois. It’s currently building a MRF in Lucas County, Ohio, expected to open in 2026, according to the Lucas County Solid Waste Management District. It also recently announced it has expanded its commercial recycling services in Phoenix.
