Waste Management Inc. said it will open a facility in Toronto to process construction and demolition (C&D) waste.

Houston-based Waste Management said the technologically advanced facility will open this fall. The facility was purchased in late 2011 and will undergo substantial upgrades. The company said in a news release the total investment will be $16 million, and the facility will create 20 new jobs.

The semi-automated single-stream recycling plant will process an estimated 87,000 metric tons of C&D material in its first full year. The facility will be equipped to sort materials, so contractors and developers won’t have to source separate, which should result in increased recovery rates, the company said.

The facility will serve western and southern parts of the greater Toronto area. The site was selected "because continued strong construction activity and population growth are anticipated in Toronto," said Brad Muter, Waste Management’s vice president for eastern Canada.

The C&D facility will support local and provincial government efforts to divert those materials from the landfill. “That's a vision we share," Muter said. "Today, we manage waste for its resource potential."

In addition, the company has introduced an online tool, called DART, that will help building planners, contractors, architects and owners measure their C&D recycling, calculate diversion rates and provide documentation to support Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.