UNITUSRecycling
Material Sorting for MRFs

Smarter Sorting.Higher Recovery.Real Results.

We help MRFs unlock more value from the material they already process. Through advanced sorting systems, precision data, and hands-on operational expertise, we deliver measurable improvements in recovery, throughput, and profitability.

What We Do

Recovery you can measure on the floor and in the books.

Three things define how we work with every MRF: we find value others miss, we engineer for the realities of the line, and we hand back the data your operations and finance teams need to act on.

Finished commodity bales strapped and ready for market

We Turn Missed Value Into Revenue

Every MRF leaves recoverable commodities in mixed paper, residue, and overs. We identify it, quantify it, and help you capture it — without disrupting your operation.

Sort line running inside a materials recovery facility

Built for Real-World MRF Conditions

Our systems and processes are engineered for the realities of the floor: variable feedstock, aging equipment, staffing challenges, and nonstop production demands.

Optical sorting equipment on a processing line

Data You Can Act On

We provide clear, defensible data that supports capital planning, staffing decisions, and operational improvements.

Our Process

State-of-the-art sorting, run by veteran teams.

At our Riverbank facility, we sort and re-sort material through optical sorters, balers, and screens — managed by experienced operators who know how to extract value from feedstock primary MRFs leave behind.

How material moves through Unitus
Loads in. Commodities out. Data on everything.
Revenue share + recovery databack to the MRFMRF residueloads arriveUNITUSsort & re-sortoptical + manual QCCommodity balesPET · alu · paper · moreClean feedstockfor advanced recyclingReduced residualless to landfill
AI
Infrared camera-based optical sorting technology
12
Commodity streams identified & reported
Equipment in use
  • Infrared camera-based optical sorters with AI
  • Screens & air systems feeding the opticals
  • Balers
  • Manual QC stations
Baler compressing sorted material on the line
Baler on the line

All operated by experienced sorting teams trained on the realities of variable feedstock and shifting commodity demand.

Commodities we identify & report
PET
HDPE
PE & monolayer film
Aluminum
Mixed Paper
Poly-coated paper
PP
PS
PLA & compostable plastics
Metal
Cartons
Film
Waste Characterization & Recovery Studies

A report your team can use for strategic decision making.

Composition data on the left, capital decisions on the right. Every study we produce ties what's in your stream to the investments that move the recovery rate.

Characterization by mass / weight
Detailed composition analysis
Transparent, verifiable data
Commodity capture rates
Residue loss quantification
Recovery opportunity modeling
ROI projections for equipment upgrades
Executive-ready reporting packages
Reporting aligned with CalRecycle and OEM requirements

Helping California MRFs thrive in the SB54 era.

Contact us
Proven Impact

More recovery. Less residue. Better margins.

Our work consistently delivers operational and financial improvements MRF operators can measure in the next quarter.

Increased commodity capture

More aluminum, PET, HDPE, and PP making it into your finished bales — not your residual stream.

Reduced residue disposal cost

Less material going to the landfill means lower tipping fees and tonnage-out fees, month after month.

Extends landfill life

Recovering more of what's already coming in helps preserve dwindling regional landfill capacity.

Improved throughput and uptime

Sortation strategies and equipment recommendations designed around the realities of your shift schedule.

Better material-flow visibility

Defensible composition data that operators, planners, and finance teams can all reference.

The SB54 ramp

The recycling rates California packaging must hit.

What is SB 54? California's packaging law makes the companies that produce packaging responsible for what happens to it. It sets legally required recycling rates that climb every two years, with fees and penalties behind them.

Every step up the ramp means more material that has to be recovered instead of landfilled, and a documented rate proving it happened. That takes secondary sorting capacity and defensible data.

Source: California SB 54 (2022), statutory recycling-rate milestones for covered material.

30%
2028
40%
2030
65%
2032
Who We Serve

Built for the operators, planners, and programs running modern recycling.

Golden Gate Bridge, California

Municipal MRFs

City- and county-operated facilities looking to improve recovery, meet diversion targets, and defend program performance to councils and stewardship bodies.

Engineering rendering of a container line sorting system

Privately Operated MRFs

Independent and corporate operators focused on commodity revenue, residue cost, and capital decisions on equipment retrofits or expansion.

Old-growth forest floor in deep green

EPR & Stewardship Groups

Producer responsibility organizations and stewardship programs that need defensible data on system performance to drive program design and reporting.

About Us

Engineers, operators, analysts, and technicians — all under one roof.

We are a team of industry veterans — engineers, operators, analysts, and technicians — dedicated to helping MRFs run smarter.

With decades of combined experience across system design, fabrication, installation, and operations, we understand the challenges facing modern recycling facilities and deliver solutions that work on the ground, not just on paper.

Ready when you are

See what's still in your residual stream.

Tell us about your facility and what you are trying to improve. We will scope a characterization study with you.

Call (925) 548-3093 or send us a message.