Solid waste separation is an imperative part for closing material flow under principles of the circular economy. A multitude of technologies are at a different stage of development to perform this task and meet performance requirements at extracting valuable resources from waste streams. A thorough review of available options and possibilities for future development was required to pursue further progress. TRIZ (from Russian abbreviation: Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) methodology facilitated drawing a technological landscape for state of the art in solid waste separation for material recovery, as well as generating new directions of research. From the vast collection of TRIZ tools for systematic invention two approaches helped in the survey: effects databases and function-oriented search. Positive outcomes of their application include systematization of available knowledge, identification of potentially useful phenomena and getting ideas for the adoption of technologies from other domains. The case illustrates how rather loose (due to the broadness of the topic) application of TRIZ methods results in fruitful insights. A view at the effects databases as a collection of technological “genes” is given.