Waste Management resumes all California MRF operations after COVID-19 concerns

Waste Management previously sent force majeure letters to municipal customers warning of potential issues during the pandemic. Other companies were also making changes that could temporarily disrupt residential recycling.

What happened

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UPDATE: May 19, 2020: After suspending operations at multiple California MRFs, Waste Management began resuming usual service earlier this month. Claremont (located in Los Angeles County) saw service return on May 4, according to the Claremont Courier. Chico (farther north in Butte County) had a similar announcement that week, per the Chico Enterprise-Record. Waste Dive has since confirmed similar moves are happening at all five of the company's affected facilities in the state.

"We have commenced processing operations at our California MRFs and are ramping up to be fully back online by the end of the month," said Waste Management spokesperson Janette Micelli.

California was one of the first states to institute a "stay-at-home" order, which appears to have caused some initial confusion about how it applied to the industry. While waste and recycling services have been deemed essential, companies are still grappling with how to protect workers and navigate liability issues. Keeping landfills and transfer stations open has remained a priority, but MRFs, drop-off sites, call centers and other facilities have been more widely affected.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Waste Dive on 2020-04-07. The original report is linked below.