Spokane's waste-to-recycled products industry has been a little slow to catch up with the rest of the country.

But it is evolving. Spokane and surrounding communities like Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Post Falls have recently opted into the expanded recycling program launched recently by Waste Management Inc.

Sunday's story about the WM location, near the Waste to Energy Plant on Spokane's West Plains, gave a detailed look at how that waste is sorted, sifted, screened, divided, rolled and baled and shipped to processors.

It's a big deal. WM spent about $18 million to build the plant, plus hired about 35 people to operate it.

A telling piece of information: when operating at normal speed, the plant processes about 11 pounds of waste per second.

Photo: Dan Pelle / Spokesman-Review

---

---