Recycle Utah's new recycling center would quadruple the nonprofit's waste diversion capacity and double as a community hub with classrooms, a café, a thrift store and a repair shop.

The organization unveiled preliminary designs for the 27,845-square-foot facility Saturday, Aug. 22, at its 11th annual 100 Mile Meal fundraiser at Red Pine Lodge, according to the Park Record. The proposed building would sit on a 4.18-acre parcel next to the High Valley Transit Sego Lily Campus near Home Depot in Silver Summit, east of U.S. 40.

The site is 8.5 times larger than Recycle Utah's current home at 1951 Woodbine Way, and the building itself would be 4.5 times bigger. That expansion would let the center divert 8,000 tons of waste per year, up from roughly 2,000 tons now, with a long-term goal of 16,000 tons annually. The facility would also begin accepting commercial recyclables for the first time.

"We get a lot of things like air fryers that have a broken knob that's simple to fix, and just having that fix-it space is really helpful," Executive Director Andy Hecht said.

Beyond recycling operations, the preliminary design includes conference rooms, a kitchen run by food-waste nonprofit Waste Less Solutions, a café operated by Lucky Ones Coffee (a Park City nonprofit that employs people with disabilities), retail space, a thrift store and the "fix-it" repair area Hecht described. Separate drop-off bays for public and commercial customers are also planned.

Board chair Heleena Sideris said the design emerged from six months of iterations and a community survey that drew more than 600 responses. Renderings show a two-story, black-and-brown building lined with windows and interior spaces flooded with natural light. Sideris stressed these are preliminary, not final.

The expansion matters beyond convenience. Summit County projects Three Mile Landfill will reach capacity by 2053; if that happens, the county would have to ship waste out at significant cost to residents. Summit County Solid Waste Supervisor Tim Loveday said on KPCW on Aug. 5, when the county announced new neighborhood drop-off sites, "If we're going to be able to extend the life of that landfill, which is very important financially to the county and its residents, we've got to start now. We can't wait to the last minute."

Recycle Utah negotiated with Park City in April to vacate Woodbine Way by March 2027, rather than the originally planned September 2026 deadline. After that, the nonprofit plans to operate a temporary facility, likely at the Silver Summit site, to avoid any gap in service.

No construction cost estimate has been released. Sideris said the board must first consult a general contractor for a ballpark price before launching a capital campaign. She said she hopes to break ground as early as spring 2027.

Residents can view the designs at Recycle Utah's free monthly Green Drinks event, 6–8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 1951 Woodbine Way.