Metro Waste Authority (MWA) will spend a few hours Wednesday trying to determine what gets thrown out with the trash. Crews will sort through tons of trash to determine the different categories arriving at its Metro Park East Landfill, 12181 N.E. University Ave., Mitchellville. MWA is one of nine facilities across the state of Iowa that were chosen to participate in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources-funded Iowa Waste Characterization study. Historically, about 75 percent of the waste reaching the Metro Park East Landfill is from the commercial sector. The waste sort allows MWA to identify material that can be recycled or reused. The agency conducted waste sorts in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2005.