Challenge : Randy’s sanitation, now Republic, has been innovating for over a decade with its organic bags co-collection program that allows for inexpensive and effective collection of source separated organic waste. The challenge that Randy’s faced was that it needed human pickers to extract the bags from the MSW stream when it entered their transfer station in Delano, MN. The bag extraction was inhuman and difficult to fulfill since it exposed people to dull, dirty and dangerous work.
Solutions : Randy’s reached out to Waste Robotics to find an automated solution to the bag extraction problem. Waste Robotics provided a tailored solution by designing a fully automated robotic sorting line that allowed for robotic extraction of the organic bags. The system is composed of an in-feed conveyor, a sorting conveyor, a platform and one gantry style robot system equipped with artificial intelligence vision.
Results : The robotic sorting line was installed in December 2017 and has been extracting organic bags since. The line can process up to 15 tons per hours and extract 1800 bags per hour of up to 20 lbs each. This resulted in a improve efficiency of extraction in the transfer station and a reduction of labour cost.
“We are thrilled to work with a leading-edge company such as Waste Robotics to offer our clients a truly competitive and economical solution for organics diversion,” says Jim Wollschlager, CEO.
Client’s benefits
- Staff has been reduced by 3 people
- Over $150 000 per year in cost savings
- 4 years investment payback
- Robot is always available
- Ability to scale to longer hours
- 20% improved capture rate over human pickers
- Significant GHG reduction from a robotic co-collection & sorting system
Challenge : The Northern France municipality of Dunkerque has been innovating for over a decade with its bagged recyclables co-collection program that allows for inexpensive and effective collection of source separated recyclables. The challenge that Dunkerque faced was that it needed human pickers to extract the bags from the MSW stream when it entered their incinerator. The bag extraction was inhuman and difficult to fulfill since it exposed people to dull, dirty and dangerous work and it was banned by France regulations.
Solutions : Dunkerque reached out to Waste Robotics to find an automated solution to the bag extraction problem. Waste Robotics provided a tailored solution by designing a fully automated robotic sorting line that allowed for robotic extraction of the organic bags. The system is composed of an in-feed conveyor, a spreading conveyor, a sorting conveyor, a platform and two (2) 6-axes style robotic system equipped with artificial intelligence vision.
Results : The robotic sorting line was installed in December 2020 and has been extracting bagged recyclables since. The line can process up to 15 tons per hours and extract 2800 bags per hour of up to 20 lbs each. This resulted in a improve efficiency of extraction in the incinerator and a reduction of labour cost.
Client’s benefits
- Staff has been reduced by 5 people
- Over $250 000 per year in cost savings
- 3 years investment payback
- Robot is always available
- Ability to scale to longer hours
- 20% improved capture rate
- Significant GHG reduction from a robotic co-collection & sorting system
Challenge : Groupe Gagnon has been innovating for over a decade with its polystyrene source collection program that allows for inexpensive and effective collection of source separated polystyrene commonly called Styrofoam. The challenge that Gagnon faced was that it needed human pickers to sort enormous volumes of different type of polystyrene. The sorting is bulky and demanding on human pickers. The amount of material to process kept increasing and labour was hard to find.
Solutions : Groupe Gagnon reached out to Waste Robotics to find an automated solution to the polystyrene sorting problem. Waste Robotics provided a tailored solution by designing a fully automated robotic sorting line that allowed for robotic extraction of these materials. The system is composed of an in-feed conveyor, a spreading conveyor, a sorting conveyor, a platform and one gantry style robot system equipped with artificial intelligence vision and a Waste Robotics proprietary robotic grappling tool called the “DAGR” that allows for picking of small or very large Styrofoam objects.
Results : The robotic sorting line was installed in December 2020 and has been extracting styrofoam since. The line can process large volume of Styrofoam and extract 1800 objects per hour of either small size (food tray) or large size (appliance packaging) Styrofoam. This resulted in a improve sorting capability and a reduction of labour cost.
”A professional team who listens attentively and goes the extra step of taking the customer’s perspective to help understand our operational requirements more clearly. Through their unique approach it allowed for a more rapid, efficient, and enjoyable project execution experience.”
– Gilles Venne, PDG
Client’s benefits
- Staff has been reduced by 3 people
- Over $150 000 per year in cost savings
- 3 years investment payback
- Robot is always available
- Ability to scale to longer hours
- Significant GHG reduction from a robotic co-collection & sorting system
Challenge : The south of Paris waste management syndicate of SEMARDEL has been innovating for decades by developing ever progressive waste sorting centers . The challenge that SEMARDEL faced was that it needed human pickers to extract recyclables from the recyclables waste stream when it entered their facilities. The work was inhuman and difficult to fulfill since it exposed people to dull, dirty and dangerous work. The amount of material to process kept increasing and labour was hard to find.
Solutions : A process designed hired by SEMARDEL called Neos/Wasoria reached out to Waste Robotics to find an automated solution to the capture of recyclables on their refuse line. Waste Robotics provided a tailored solution by designing a refuse line capture roboti that allowed for robotic extraction of various type of recyclables. The system is composed of two (2) delta/spider style robots equipped with artificial intelligence vision and a Waste Robotics proprietary robotic grappling tool called the “VENTURI” that allows for picking of various objects.
Results : The robotic sorting line was installed in March 2021 and has been extracting recyclables since. The line can process large volume of refuse and extract 4500 objects per hours of either small size (2”) or large size (24”) objects. This resulted in a improve sorting capability and a reduction of labour cost and investment in a sorting cabin for the refuse line pickers.
Client’s benefits
- Staff has been reduced by 4 people
- Over $200 000 per year in cost savings
- 2 years investment payback
- Robot is always available
- Ability to scale to longer hours
- $250 000 investment saving (no sorting cabin for humans)
