Milwaukee’s MRF Building & Tour Info

A MRF is a Materials Recovery Facility, a place where trucks deliver recyclables for sorting into each commodity type.  Before switching to Single-Sort recycling in the fall of 2011, Milwaukee’s recyclables were sorted and processed at a City-owned MRF (pictured - top). The City MRF houses dual stream equipment that, not only cannot accommodate Single-Sort recycling, but also has reached the end of its useful life. For the time being, the tip floor of the City MRF building is being used as a recyclables transfer station – that is, to centrally receive recyclables from collection trucks and then transfer them via semi trailer loads to another MRF for sorting. Waste Management Recycle America processes the recyclables at it’s privately owned Germantown MRF and sells them to recycling markets, sharing revenues with the City.

The Milwaukee Environmental Education Resource and Tour Center at 1313 W Mt. Vernon Ave. is located next to the City’s MRF building.  Educational programs and tours of the site continue and are provided by Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful (KGMB) in a cooperative project with the City.

To schedule a tour and visit the education center, call (414) 272-5462.

To tour the facility where Milwaukee’s recyclables are currently processed, call (262) 532-8519. You can also watch a video or take a virtual tour of a Materials Recovery Facility.

Contact information for touring Milwaukee-area landfills:

Orchard Ridge Landfill (Waste Management):

N96 W13503 County Line Rd

Menomonee Falls, WI 53051

(262) 253-8620

Metro Recycling & Disposal (Waste Management):

10712 South 124^th St

Franklin, WI 53132

(414) 529-6180

Emerald Park Landfill (Veolia Environmental Services)

W124 S10629 124^th St

Muskego, WI 53150-6004

(414) 529-1360

Pictured: City of Milwaukee MRF Building (top) and Milwaukee's Environmental Education Resource and Tour Center (bottom)