Have you been to a materials recovery facility (MRF)? I’ve had the pleasure of touring a couple, and the thing that sticks out about my experiences thus far is not the high-tech sorting machinery.
In fact, because I haven’t spent enough time in a MRF to fully comprehend all the material movements, I would best describe it as something akin to a Rube Goldberg machine. Materials seem to be moving in every direction, crisscrossing, dropping off cliffs and moving up belts. When you break it all down, I know that it is nothing like a Rube Goldberg machine, but that’s the first thought that still comes to mind for me.