Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc. has opened its renovated Columbus, Ohio, material recovery facility (MRF) with new technology that will double its previous rate.

The two-year renovation represents a comprehensive overhaul of the recycling system, according to a company media advisory. The new technology involves five optical scanners that use infrared lights to read materials and trigger bursts of air to eject unwanted items.

The upgrade will allow Rumpke to expand its residential and commercial recycling programs to new area, offer larger recycling containers and expand its acceptable items list. The Columbus facility handles recycling sorting for Rumpke throughout the state of Ohio.

The single-stream facility now will be about sort 60,000 pounds per hour of material.

The company would not specify the investment amount other than it was a multi-million dollar project.