A material recovery facility (MRF) is a place where non-biodegradable or recyclable solid waste collected from the doorstep is segregated, sorted and various components of recyclable waste recovered from it for resale.
The MRF accepts mixtures of waste fractions (non-biodegradable or recyclable) and its configuration depends on the several factors like the type, quantity and quality of incoming waste materials. Here the material is basically segregated into different streams of waste fractions (paper, plastic, packaging paper, bottles etc) which is further sold to intermediaries who supply bulk material to the recycling industries.
MRFs also require large storage spaces to temporary store sorted recyclables which can be made available to recyclers in bulk for improved resale value.
Depending on the scale of operations and the level of mechanization in the facility, MRFs may be classified as manual or mechanized.
Small scale units employ manual MRFs wherein manual sorting process is being carried and it’s typically owned, operated and managed by the informal sector.
Large scale units have mechanized MRFs with sophisticated systems and equipment that enable efficient separation of large quantity of material into different fractions.