A review on automated sorting of source-separated municipal solid waste for recycling

•A vast body of literature exists in the area of solid waste sorting for recycling.•Automation of municipal solid waste (MSW) sorting process is an active research area.•This paper reports a detailed review of automated sorting of source-separated MSW.•This paper presents sensors, actuators, and processes used in automated sorting.•Automated waste sorting to deal with increasing global waste generation is discussed. A crucial prerequisite for recycling forming an integral part of municipal solid waste (MSW) management is sorting of useful materials from source-separated MSW. Researchers have been exploring automated sorting techniques to improve the overall efficiency of recycling process. This paper reviews recent advances in physical processes, sensors, and actuators used as well as control and autonomy related issues in the area of automated sorting and recycling of source-separated MSW. We believe that this paper will provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art and will help future system designers in the area. In this paper, we also present research challenges in the field of automated waste sorting and recycling.