Perth Material Recovery Facility
Featured facility
Commercial customers only
Highlights
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Turning waste into resources
Delivering up to 90% recovery on reusable products.Industry-leading safety features
Setting an industry benchmark for fire control and management infrastructure.Driving community education
Boosting resource recovery rates through targeted education to customers and communities.
Supporting businesses and councils
Helping municipal and business customers to achieve recycling goals while reducing costs.
About Cleanaway Perth MRF
Cleanaway’s Perth Material Recovery Facility (MRF) is Western Australia’s largest and most advanced recycling plant, purpose-built to process commingled recyclables from households and businesses across the Perth metropolitan area. Strategically located in South Guildford, the facility uses cutting-edge sorting technology – including optical sorters, magnets and air classifiers – to recover valuable materials such as cardboard, paper, plastics, aluminium and steel with high precision. With capacity to process up to 250,000 tonnes of recycling annually, the Perth MRF plays a critical role in reducing landfill, supporting the state’s waste diversion targets and driving the local circular economy.
What we process
The Perth MRF manages a range of recyclable materials, each year processing:
Mixed paper and cardboard
Plastics – HDPE, PET, PP
Glass containers
Aluminium and steel cans
As a high-capacity sorting facility, it can handle up to 50 tonnes of mixed household recyclables every hour, meaning it’s well equipped to meet Perth’s recycling needs.
How it works
The facility helps maximise recoverable resources by delivering recyclable materials with high levels of purity.
- PRE-SORT: MRF staff manually remove contamination (e.g. plastic bags).
- DISC SCREEN SORTING: Disc screens are configured to separate material by size, with larger material travelling over the top and smaller items falling through to a separate conveyor
- PAPER & CARDBOARD SORTING: Infrared sensors and air jets sort fibres helping achieve high purity rates.
- BALLISTIC SEPARATOR: Shaking the materials causes 3D objects (plastics) to fall back and 2D objects (paper/cardboard) to travel upwards. Small glass falls through the screen onto the glass line.
- GLASS: Sent for further sorting by colour.
- MAGNETS: Rotating magnets pick up steel cans.
- EDDY CURRENTS: An electromagnet field repels aluminium cans off the conveyor belt.
- OPTICAL SORTING: Infrared sensors and air jets sort plastic types 1 and 2 (PET and HDPE respectively).
- MANUAL SORTING: MRF staff manually sort the other plastic types (3 to 7).
Beyond the facility
World-class technology
The Perth MRF uses highly advanced sorting technology that can separate recycling into eight waste streams, diverting more materials from landfill to be recovered and recycled.
Enhanced safety features
The facility has a range of fire safety features that go beyond the requirements of the National Construction Code, and comply with both EPA Victoria guidelines, and Fire and Rescue NSW fire safety guidelines. These leading safety capabilities protect our people, assets and local communities.
Sustainability at its core
The energy-efficient facility features a 680 kW solar system that helps power the MRF and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, part of our commitment to the government’s targeted net zero carbon emissions by 2050.