When you hear “mega MRF,” this is probably the facility you should think of: a 1,000-tons-per-day materials recovery facility in the Sunset Park section of New York City’s Brooklyn borough. Opened in late 2013, the Sims Municipal Recycling Sunset Park MRF is billed as the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. 10 Fun Facts About the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, NYC’s State of the Art Municipal Recycling Facility by Michelle Young.

Sims Municipal Recycling - Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility Map

Sims Municipal Recycling - Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility Brooklyn Ny

Sims Municipal Recycling’s Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Brooklyn has unveiled what is considered to be New York City’s first commercial-scale wind turbine.
Officials from New York City and Sydney-based Sims Metal Management (SMM) and its Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR) division were joined by local officials, community leaders and members of the environmental community to welcome the wind turbine at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Jan. 14, 2015. The turbine is fully operational and will use the energy generated from the turbine to help power the MRF.
The unveiling of the turbine follows a permitting process for the wind turbine that began four years ago. The 120-foot-tall tower (closer to 160 feet including the blades) was installed last fall. The capital cost of the turbine was about $750,000, and the turbine will pay for itself in about five years, depending on wind and electricity costs, the company says.
The turbine, made by Vermont-based Northern Power Systems, is expected to generate up to 4 percent of the energy required to run the MRF. Combined with the photovoltaic (solar power) installation on the roof of the tipping building, where trucks and barges deliver material to be sorted and processed, up to 20 percent of the MRF’s energy will be generated on site from renewable sources.
“Sims is incredibly proud of the innovative practices implemented at the Sunset Park MRF—and the new wind turbine is certainly a part of that,” says Galdino Claro, CEO and managing director of SMM. “We are the world’s largest publicly listed metals and electronics recycler, and through our activities at hundreds of locations around the globe we are committed to being both a local and global leader in sustainability.”
“As a recycling company, sustainability is central to our mission, and in Brooklyn we saw the opportunity to advance that agenda in new ways,” says Tom Outerbridge, SMR general manager. “The wind turbine, combined with the solar array, enables the facility to decrease its non-renewable energy consumption substantially.”
'Northern Power Systems would like to congratulate the entire Sims team for reaching this impressive energy sustainability milestone, paying dividends forward for decades,' says Trevor Atkinson, sales and business development manager at Northern Power Systems. 'We are delighted to have this new installation join our growing global fleet.'