TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa’s recycling center is about to go back online with new and improved systems.
The Tulsa Recycling and Transfer facility was forced to close in April because of fire. Over the last several months, they've been working behind the scenes to get the facility back up and running.
Eleven million dollars and counting is going into this project. The new state-of-the-art system includes artificial intelligence to allow for more efficient sorting. They're calling it "Mr. Murph 2.0."
American Waste Control Vice President, Robert Pickens, said the new system will help in quality control.
“We’ve added the technology of artificial intelligence robotics on here to work alongside our workers to help clean materials up more. We’ve also added some advancements in our optical sorters that separate our plastics out. We’re gonna be able to take on some of those items. Before we had to manually sort, the optical sorters are gonna be able to do that for us so it allows to really focus in on the quality of the plastics better," said Pickens.
Along with the upgrades, Pickens said they're focusing on educating the community as well.
“Mr. Murph really really relies on the recyclers of Green Country to recycle correctly. The system is designed to separate mixed recyclables, it’s not made to separate non-recyclables or trash from recyclables overall. So we really really count on the citizens to go ahead and recycle right," said Pickens.
While the facility has been closed for nearly a year, others have helped Oklahomans continue to recycle until Murph 2.0 could be finished.
“Recycling is still occurring here in Green Country so it’s not completely out but it’s going to get bigger and better when Mr. Murph 2.0 starts up in February,” said Pickens.
He said they have a saying at Tulsa Recycling, "When in doubt, check it out." He said if you don't want to check it out, then throw it out. For a full list of approved items, click here
What's Recyclable?.
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