The City’s Solid Waste Department contracts with a recycling processing company that is privately owned. This materials recovery facility (MRF) accepts our material, processes it and then sells the commodities on the global recycling market. When the material is contaminated, they cannot sell it.
If the City’s recycling trucks drop off loads that are too contaminated by weight, the MRF charges the City a fine. Here is one astounding example. In 2018, the City was charged $1.5 million just for contamination by dirty diapers.
Learn more about the recycling process.