Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility

Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility is a recycling center on the Brooklyn waterfront equipped with processing buildings, storage areas, and advanced sorting technologies for metals, glass, and plastics. The site uses mechanical and optical sorting systems to separate and prepare materials for remanufacturing into new products.

The site was transformed from a police impound lot and opened in 2013 as one of the largest single-stream recycling centers in the United States. This conversion brought significant recycling infrastructure improvements to the broader New York region.

The Education Center offers learning programs with classrooms and exhibitions that connect visitors to recycling processes through interactive displays and viewing platforms.

The center is accessible by public transit and has parking available for Education Center visitors. The best times to visit are during scheduled learning and exhibition programs, which offer insights into daily operations.

The facility is partially powered by wind turbines and solar panels that generate renewable energy for operations. Some materials processed there come from Second Avenue Subway construction debris, demonstrating how construction waste gets integrated into the recycling system.

Location: Brooklyn

Inception: 2010s

Architects: Annabelle Selldorf

Official opening: December 2013

Made from material: steel, stone, glass

Part of: South Brooklyn Marine Terminal

Address: 472 2nd Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11232

Website: https://simsmunicipal.com/locations/sunset-park-mrf

GPS coordinates: 40.66194,-74.00889

Latest update: December 10, 2025 16:30