Los Angeles County’s Largest Materials Recovery Facility and Transfer Station Breaks Ground

Athens Services has broken ground on a new materials recovery facility (MRF) and transfer station in the City of Irwindale. 

The completely enclosed MRF is designed to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and will have photovoltaic panels on the roof to produce energy. The site also will include a recycling science and technology center to educate the public on recycling and sustainability best practices.

When it opens in late 2023, the facility will be the largest MRF in Los Angeles County at 250,000 square feet. It will receive, process, and transfer up to 6,000 tons per day of non-hazardous, mixed-municipal solid waste, organics waste, and construction and demolition material from professional waste haulers as well as self-haulers. The facility will also create over 300 livable wage jobs for residents of the surrounding area.

The Irwindale MRF will also be one of the most technologically advanced in the country, featuring the latest in artificial intelligence, robotics, and optical sorting technology to divert material away from landfills. 

“I’m super excited about building the Irwindale Material Recovery Facility. The technology will be astonishing. Once we complete the facility and open our doors, we will invite you in to take a tour, and you too will be excited”, Athens Senior Director of Resource Recovery Riel Johnson said at the groundbreaking event on March 24.

Athens plans for the facility to be operational in the second half of 2023. Learn more at IrwindaleMRF.com

Headquartered in the City of Industry, Athens is L.A. County’s largest privately owned waste diversion and recycling company. Athens has nearly 2,000 employees, a fleet of more than 1,000 trucks, and facilities stretching from the South Bay to the Inland Empire and the High Desert.