Many towns and municipalities offer recycling services that pick up materials like paper, plastic and cardboard from the curb. But where do those materials go after pickup?

1. INSIDE:
A MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITY
Tuffman Equipment

2. Where do they go?
 Many towns and
municipalities offer
recycling services that
pick up materials like
paper, plastic and
cardboard from the
curb.
 Where do these
materials go after
pickup?

3. Once recyclables are picked up from the curb on
trash day, they are generally transported to a
material recovery facility.
Material Recovery Facility (MRF)

4. Recyclable Materials
 Recyclable materials include
plastic containers and bottles
and fiber materials such as
phonebooks and newspapers.
 Plastic bags are more difficult
to recycle and are not
accepted at most MRFs
because they create problems
during processing.
 The first step in recycling is
proper separation and sorting
of materials curbside, so the
individual who recycles has an
important responsibility.

5. At the MRF
 At an MRF, trucks drop off load of
recyclables in the receiving area.
 The trash and non-recyclable items
are removed from the recycling
process and the clean recyclables
are sorted.
 Bags of materials are broken open,
and a conveyor transports the
recyclables to a sorting line.
 There, MRF staff manually sort out
the different types of materials into
various holding bins.
 The recyclables are then transported
via an incline conveyor into a baler,
which crushes the materials together
and binds them with wire bands.
 The bales are then stored in stacks
for shipment.

7. The Don’ts
 Materials that are not recyclable must
be separated from the waste stream
because they can create problems in the
recycling process.
 Some examples of non-recyclable
materials include aluminum foil,
Styrofoam, food wraps, ceramic and clay
pots, porcelain, light bulbs and fabrics.

8. Tuffman® Equipment
 Tuffman® offers a variety of
equipment, including conveyors and
sorting stations, to help start a new MRF
or expand an existing operation.
 Contact us today to learn more about
our custom-manufactured products!