Curbside collection of residential single stream recyclables is becoming commonplace in Northern California. Placing all recyclables in one container greatly simplifies the recycling process for consumers, helping to increase participation and resulting in the recovery of thousands of pounds of additional recyclables each day.
To complete the process, the comingled materials requires an elaborate sorting process to separate and bundle like materials for recycling. A Materials Recovery Facility, referred to as a MRF (pronounced "merf"), is designed for this purpose.
The Davis Street Single Stream MRF is the size of a city block. It requires the help of employees, conveyor belts, magnets, optical sorters and blowers to separate paper, cardboard, tin, aluminum, glass and plastics into like materials. Each material is gathered and baled for sale to processors who recycle them into new products.
Aside from curbside recyclables including yard trimmings and food scraps, Davis Street processes many other materials for recycling including mattresses, electronics, and appliances. You can learn how these and other materials are recycled on the Recycling Facts page.
