July 2, 2026
Rockland Green operates the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hillburn, NY, where recycling from every town and village in Rockland County is sorted, baled, and shipped to manufacturers to be made into new products.
Quick facts:
- Facility: Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)
- Location: 420 Torne Valley Road, Hillburn, NY 10931
- Size: 51,000-square-foot building, including a 10,800 sq ft tipping floor and 5,000 sq ft of bale storage
- Handles: Commingled containers (cans, bottles, jars) and commingled paper and cardboard
- Serves: Every town and village in Rockland County
- Sorting method: Magnets, air blowers, and hand pickers
- Outcome: Sorted material is baled and shipped to manufacturers to become new products
You wheel the bin to the curb, a truck takes it away, and that's usually where the story ends for most of us. But the bottles, cans, and cardboard you set out don't just vanish — they head to one building in Hillburn where the real work begins. Here's what actually goes on inside.
Where your recycling goes first
Recycling collected across the county doesn't get sorted on the truck. Private haulers bring it all to the MRF, where two main streams come through the door: commingled paper and cardboard, and commingled containers (your cans, bottles, and jars mixed together).
The facility is a 51,000-square-foot building, with a tipping floor where trucks unload and dedicated space for storing finished bales. Keeping it organized is the whole game.
How the sorting actually works
Sorting mixed recycling is part machine, part people, and Rockland Green uses both.
For paper, the work is hands-on. Crews separate it by grade — newsprint, corrugated cardboard, and the like — because paper mills want their material sorted before they'll take it.
For containers, it's a mix of equipment and human eyes. Magnets pull out steel and other ferrous metals. Air blowers help separate lighter materials. And hand pickers work the line to catch what the machines miss and pull out anything that shouldn't be there. By the end, the stream is divided into aluminum, ferrous metal, and different grades of plastic.
From loose material to baled product
Once everything's separated, it gets compressed into tight, stackable bales. Those bales are shipped off to manufacturing plants that turn them back into new products. In many cases, companies pay Rockland Green for the material, which helps offset the cost of running the operation.
That's the part people tend to miss: recycling isn't just disposal — it's a supply chain. The aluminum can you rinse out in Nyack or New City can genuinely come back around as something new.
Your part in it
None of this works well if the wrong stuff ends up in the bin. A few simple habits on the curbside end make a real difference downstream:
- Give containers a quick rinse before they go in.
- Keep plastic bags out of your recycling — they tangle equipment and cause problems on the sorting line.
- Take electronics, chemicals, and other hazardous items to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility in Pomona instead of the curb.
- If you're ever unsure whether something belongs in recycling, "What Goes Where" will tell you.
FAQs
Q: Where does Rockland County recycling go?
A: To Rockland Green's Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at 420 Torne Valley Road in Hillburn, NY.
Q: What can the Rockland Green MRF handle?
A: Commingled containers (cans, bottles, jars) and commingled paper and cardboard, collected from every town and village in the county.
Q: How is recycling sorted at the MRF?
A: Paper is separated by grade by hand. Containers are sorted using magnets, air blowers, and hand pickers into aluminum, ferrous metal, and plastics.
Q: What happens to recycling after it's sorted?
A: It's baled and shipped to manufacturers that turn it into new products. Companies often pay Rockland Green for the baled material.
Q: How big is the Rockland Green MRF?
A: It's a 51,000-square-foot building in Hillburn, NY, including a 10,800-square-foot tipping floor and 5,000 square feet of bale storage.
Q: Where do hazardous items and electronics go?
A: Not in curbside recycling — to Rockland Green's Household Hazardous Waste Facility in Pomona.