The supply side of recycling always aims to achieve the most efficient combination of collection and sorting. Initially, sorting was part of the collection system and recycling facilities were primarily focused on materials consolidation and transfer. However, starting in the 1980s, the sorting task slowly shifted to the receiving sites that evolved into the modern materials recovery facility (MRF). Current MRF process flow designs rely on electro-mechanical screening systems supplemented, where needed, by manual sorting. The most advanced MRF designs also incorporate the use of programmable sensors to enable high-speed sorting of specific materials such as plastics and glass.
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