MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITY

(MRF)
What is Material Recovery Facility?

 MRF is a key component of residential and commercial single-stream recycling programs.

 It is a facility that receives commingled materials and then uses a combination of
equipment and manual labor to separate and densify materials in preparation for
shipment downstream to recyclers of the particular materials recovered.
 Materials recovery facilities are alternately knows as materials reclamation facilities or multi
re-use facilities.
How does a Materials Recovery Facility
works?
What is the difference between clean and
dirty MRFs?

Clean MRF:
 It accepts commingled blue bin material - in other words, recyclable materials that have been separated by
households or businesses.
 The recovery rate of recyclable material from a clean MRF is predictably very high.

Dirty MRF:
 It processes household or commercial trash that has not had trash removed.
 Dirty MRFs potentially allow for greater recovery in that it can capture material that would have been missed
if consumers placed it in the trash rather than the blue bin.
 The dirty MRF approach can also allow for the recovery of a wider range of materials than a clean MRF.
 require considerably more manual labor for sorting, and can result in the contamination of paper and OCC
(old corrugated cardboard.)
 the recovery rate of a dirty MRF is much lower, in the five to 45% range. Dirty MRF material is also much
heavier, thanks to organic material in trash. It averages around 350 pounds per cubic yard where organics
are not diverted, as opposed to 50 to 100 pounds per cubic yard of blue box material.
MRFs Struggle with Unwanted Materials

 Material recovery facilities struggle with a variety of unwanted materials such as plastic
bags, large objects, and trash, all of which increase the need for manual sorting, and
which increases inefficiencies for MRF operators and ultimately for the communities they
serve. Such problems are intensified in the face of declining markets and lower prices for
the materials they sell, such as has been experienced in recent years due to tightening
import restrictions by China.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9003

 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9003 “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000”
 An act providing for an ecological solid waste management program, creating the
necessary institutional mechanism and incentives, declaring certain acts prohibited and
providing penalties, appropriating funds therefor, and for other purposes.
Section 32: Establishment of LGU Materials
Recovery Facility

 There shall be established a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay or cluster
of barangays. The facility shall be established in a barangay-owned or leased land or any
suitable open space to be determined by the barangay through its Sanggunian. For this
purpose, the barangay or cluster of barangays shall allocate a certain parcel of land for
the MRF. The determination of site and actual establishment of the facility shall likewise be
subject to the guidelines and criteria set pursuant to this Act. The MRF shall receive mixed
waste for final sorting, segregation, composting, and recycling. The resulting residual
wastes shall be transferred to a long-term storage or disposal facility or sanitary landfill.
Section 33: Guidelines for Establishment of
Materials Recovery Facility

Materials recovery facilities shall be designed to receive, sort, process, and store
compostable and recyclable material efficiently and in an environmentally sound manner.
The facility shall address the following considerations:
 The building and/or land layout and equipment must be designed to accommodate
efficient and safe materials processing, movement, and storage; and
 The building must be designed to allow efficient and safe external access and to
accommodate internal flow.