[…] Along with waste materials from the upstream manufacturer’s production sites, on the recycling side, investing in automation and machine visions are key to streamlining the recycling process. Waste Robotics, for instance, is a company that develops software to recognise waste materials and facilitate robotic extraction. One of its customers is Groupe Gagnon, which offers a source collection programme for Styrofoam.
Waste Robotics provided a fully automated robotic sorting line that allowed for robotic extraction of these materials. The system comprises 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.
According to Topolytics’ Groves, data across the supply chain can help waste processors to determine their return on investment. “They can build a business case to invest more in recycling,” he says.
