Republic Services Receives Pioneer Award for Southern Nevada Recycling Center

Republic Services recently accepted the Pioneer Award for the Southern Nevada Recycling Center at BOMA’s TOBY (The Outstanding Building of the Year) Awards. The Pioneer Award is given to the building that demonstrates a significant contribution to the improvement and enhancement of a community.

The TOBY Awards are the commercial real estate industry's highest recognition honoring excellence in commercial building management and operations. Judging is based on community impact, tenant/employee relations programs, energy management systems, accessibility, emergency evacuation procedures, building personnel training programs and overall quality indicators.

The Southern Nevada Recycling Center serves more than 535,000 households throughout the area, including the cities of North Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Henderson, as well as Clark County. It is expected to accommodate future growth in the Valley, and increased residential, commercial and industrial recycling demands throughout Southern Nevada. 

The 110,000 square foot Recycling Center also features an interactive Learning Center.  Visitors experience a first-hand view of the recycling process in the observation deck, in addition to educational videos, interactive visual displays and information on recycling and sustainability. The learning center is a first-of-its-kind resource for the community, as well as for visitors and sustainability-minded tourists from around the world.  

The Recycling Center can process more than 2 million pounds of recyclables per day, the equivalent weight of 500 automobiles.  The Center features a large rooftop solar energy system comprised of 1,776 panels (315 watts) to harness the renewable resource.  Over the next 30 years the buildings solar energy system will offset greenhouse gas emissions equal to 43,542 barrels of oil used and 38 million miles driven by local motorists. 

The architecture of the building was engineered using recycled and repurposed materials and features various sustainable elements throughout. More than 75 percent of the building is made from recycled and remanufactured steel. The natural landscape was preserved and repurposed to make aggregate for the flood channels surrounding the building. Water efficient automatic low-flow fixtures were installed to conserve water, reducing consumption by more than 20 percent. High solar reflectance index roof materials were installed to minimize heat retention in the building.