Republic Services now expects its Bridgeton, Missouri, recycling center to open in 2028, later than its earlier target, for a facility designed to process up to 45 tons of recyclables an hour.
In an Oct. 15 announcement, the company said it had broken ground. A May 2025 schedule anticipated a groundbreaking in the first quarter of 2026, subject to permitting, and projected a mid-2027 opening. Republic has not explained the change in its expected opening date.
The planned 105,000-square-foot site is intended to take recyclables from businesses and roughly three million people in the Greater St. Louis region. Republic says it can handle up to 45 tons, or about nine truckloads, per hour. Materials slated for processing include paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs, metal cans, and glass containers.
Plans call for at least 10 optical sorters and screening equipment. Republic says AI systems are intended to reduce contamination and help adjust processing in real time. The company projects as many as 200 full-time construction jobs during development and about 60 full-time positions once the center is operating. The Oct. 15 announcement did not identify customers committed to use the facility.
Spectrum News and the St. Louis Business Journal reported the project cost at $70 million. Republic's May 2025 and Oct. 15 announcements did not state a cost.
The project comes as St. Louis works to address rejected recycling. The city said about 4,252 of the 8,918 tons it collected in fiscal 2025 were rejected at a Republic material recovery facility. It reported about $633,500 in avoidable rejection costs and roughly $1.7 million in recycling disposal fees.
The city ended alley recycling in August 2025, citing ineffectiveness and high costs, and moved to drop-off locations. In a March 2026 update, the city said contamination was down 83% and recycled material was up 8% from August 2025 through February 2026, compared with the same months a year earlier.
