MRF Operations Forum 2026
The MRF Operations Forum is the only event specifically dedicated to plant operations, not policy and markets.
The forum is the result of numerous conversations with plant owners and operators who desire in-depth discussions on the obstacles of operating a material recovery facility (MRF). Faced with the dual challenge of increasingly complex, capital-intensive equipment and radically changing markets and material streams, meaningful discussions with industry professionals are invaluable.
Technology Has Changed Plant Operations
MRFs have significantly evolved as machinery and systems have become more advanced. Robotic sorting, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and optical sorting integrated with AI are the newest technologies reshaping MRF operations, while fiber screens are being replaced with better solutions.
Optimizing this equipment to run efficiently is challenging. It requires plant operators to understand each component and how these components relate to one another and the material streams being processed.
Advancements in technology also mean that retrofitting new components into a plant can add real boosts to production, efficiency and material quality. Understanding when and how to do this is critical; it can provide a tremendous competitive advantage or become a costly mistake.
Materials and Markets Have Changed Plant Operations
Material flows have also significantly changed. Lightweighting means the volume of material that constitutes a ton has increased. Long fiber has largely disappeared from the streams with the reduction in newspapers, while single-sheet fiber, old corrugated containers (OCC) and boxboard volumes have grown.
All of this has occurred while end markets in China have all but disappeared, creating a new paradigm for quality measurement and materials marketing with a growing emphasis toward domestic mills.
The forum is the result of numerous conversations with plant owners and operators who desire in-depth discussions on the obstacles of operating a material recovery facility (MRF). Faced with the dual challenge of increasingly complex, capital-intensive equipment and radically changing markets and material streams, meaningful discussions with industry professionals are invaluable.
Technology Has Changed Plant Operations
MRFs have significantly evolved as machinery and systems have become more advanced. Robotic sorting, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and optical sorting integrated with AI are the newest technologies reshaping MRF operations, while fiber screens are being replaced with better solutions.
Optimizing this equipment to run efficiently is challenging. It requires plant operators to understand each component and how these components relate to one another and the material streams being processed.
Advancements in technology also mean that retrofitting new components into a plant can add real boosts to production, efficiency and material quality. Understanding when and how to do this is critical; it can provide a tremendous competitive advantage or become a costly mistake.
Materials and Markets Have Changed Plant Operations
Material flows have also significantly changed. Lightweighting means the volume of material that constitutes a ton has increased. Long fiber has largely disappeared from the streams with the reduction in newspapers, while single-sheet fiber, old corrugated containers (OCC) and boxboard volumes have grown.
All of this has occurred while end markets in China have all but disappeared, creating a new paradigm for quality measurement and materials marketing with a growing emphasis toward domestic mills.
