In a press release, Republic Services announced that they are investing $19 million to modernize two recycling centers in North and St. Louis County, Missouri. 

When complete, the facilities will be able to sort up to 30 tons per hour.  The release did not indicate when the project would be complete.  

"The improvements we're making to our recycling centers in St. Louis allow us to meet current demand, and we're adding capacity to accommodate even more recycling in the future," said Tim Trost, area president, Republic Services in the release. "We want St. Louis to rethink waste and shift the paradigm to focus first on recycling, and then send the material that remains to the landfill."

The upgrade to the facility coincides with an overall push to increase recycling rates in the area.  According to a recent study, St. Louis only recycles 3% of its waste compared to a nationwide average of 26%.  

"I think the investment is great for the overall quality of life in St. Louis County. In 2008 County Executive Dooley asked us to make sure every household had a single-stream recycling bin. That program is proving to be very successful over time," said Dr. Dolores J. Gunn, director, Saint Louis County Department of Health. "When homeowners were provided single stream recycling bins, the recycling rate in St. Louis County jumped 900 percent. That's 47,000 tons of garbage, or 49% of all waste, that is not going into landfills. We are making dramatic strides and I believe increasing recycling will only continue to improve the great quality of life we have here in our community."

Republic Services serves more than 200,000 households and 27,000 commercial and industrial accounts in the St. Louis region.