Recycling trucks empty the household recycling bins and then deliver the content to the MRF at the Summerhill Waste Management Centre. The co-mingled recyclables are unloaded inside the enclosed facility onto conveyors. The first step is removing non-recyclable materials (contamination) which must be done by hand.
Conveyors move the co-mingled recyclables through a disk screen where paper and cardboard are separated and glass is removed from the conveyor. Eddy currents split ferrous metals and aluminium. Plastics are sorted using optical separators.
The separated and clean paper, cardboard, aluminium, steel and plastics are baled so they can be efficiently stored. Glass is stored in large bins.
The baled materials or glass bins are temporarily stored on site. When markets are available, they are then loaded onto trucks for transport to recycling facilities where they are used to manufacture new materials.
The sorting process inside a MRF is highly automated.