From Drop-Off Center to MRF
When you drop off materials at a community center, they're collected by a recycling hauler and transported to a materials recovery facility (MRF) for sorting. Small drop-off operations may send materials directly to end processors if they handle a single material type (like a dedicated glass recycler or aluminum buyer).
Processing and Baling
At the MRF, materials are sorted by type using a combination of screens, optical sorters, magnets, and hand-sorting. Each material stream is then processed and baled. A bale of compacted aluminum cans might weigh 1,200 pounds and be the size of a small car. These bales are shipped to manufacturers who use them as raw materials.
The Journey of Specific Materials
<strong>Aluminum</strong>: Bales go to aluminum smelters where they're melted, cleaned, and cast into ingots. Ingots go to rolling mills that produce sheet aluminum for can manufacturing — the metal you recycle could be back in a new can within 60 days.
<strong>Paper and cardboard</strong>: Bales go to paper mills where they're re-pulped (mixed with water to create a slurry), cleaned, and formed into new paper or cardboard. The fiber is reused but shortens with each cycle.
<strong>Glass</strong>: Cullet (crushed glass) goes to glass manufacturers to be melted and reformed into new bottles, or to aggregate processors for road materials and fiberglass.
<strong>Plastic</strong>: Depends on type. PET typically becomes polyester fiber (for clothing, carpet) or new bottles. HDPE becomes new containers, lumber, or drainage pipe.
Global Supply Chains
Recycled materials are traded globally. U.S. scrap paper and metal is exported to mills in Asia and Europe that buy it for manufacturing. Commodity prices for recyclables fluctuate with global manufacturing demand — when Chinese factories are running hot, scrap prices are high; when demand slumps, prices fall.
This global dimension means your local recycling has international supply chain connections — a fact that underscores both recycling's importance and its vulnerability to global economic conditions.