▁are ▁the ▁easiest ▁type ▁of ▁collection ▁to ▁establish ▁but ▁suffer ▁from ▁low ▁and ▁un predict able ▁through put . ▁ ▁Dist ributed ▁rec y cling ▁▁ ▁For ▁some ▁waste ▁materials ▁such ▁as ▁pl astic , ▁recent ▁technical ▁devices ▁called ▁rec ycle b ots ▁enable ▁a ▁form ▁of ▁distributed ▁rec y cling . ▁Pre lim inary ▁life - cycle ▁analysis ▁( L CA ) ▁indicates ▁that ▁such ▁distributed ▁rec y cling ▁of ▁HD PE ▁to ▁make ▁fil ament ▁of ▁ 3 D ▁printer s ▁in ▁rural ▁regions ▁is ▁ener get ically ▁favor able ▁to ▁either ▁using ▁vir gin ▁res in ▁or ▁conventional ▁rec y cling ▁processes ▁because ▁of ▁redu ctions ▁in ▁transport ation ▁energy . ▁ ▁Sort ing ▁▁ ▁Once ▁comm ing led ▁rec y cl ates ▁are ▁collected ▁and ▁delivered ▁to ▁a ▁materials ▁recovery ▁facility , ▁the ▁different ▁types ▁of ▁materials ▁must ▁be ▁sorted . ▁This ▁is ▁done ▁in ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁stages , ▁many ▁of ▁which ▁involve ▁autom ated ▁processes ▁such ▁that ▁a ▁tr uck load ▁of ▁material ▁can ▁be ▁fully ▁sorted ▁in ▁less ▁than ▁an ▁hour . ▁Some ▁plants ▁can ▁now ▁sort ▁the ▁materials ▁automatically , ▁known ▁as ▁single - stream ▁rec y cling . ▁Autom atic ▁sorting ▁may ▁be ▁a ided ▁by ▁robot ics ▁and ▁machine - learning . ▁In ▁plants , ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁materials ▁is ▁sorted ▁such ▁as ▁paper , ▁different ▁types ▁of ▁pl ast ics , ▁glass , ▁met als , ▁food ▁scra ps , ▁and ▁most ▁types ▁of ▁batter ies . ▁A ▁ 3 0 ▁percent