In a first for UK recycling engineering, the first ever AI recycling sorter has been launched in the UK.
Green Recycling, an industrial and commercial waste specialist has bought a Max-AI autonomous quality control (AQC) to increase recovery of recyclables.
Increasing recovery of recyclables is an important part of recycling as the larger the proportion of recyclables that can be selected from a waste stream, the more money that can be made from it.
Using machinery to screen for different types of plastic using light and air has been in the UK for over a decade now, but this new machine adds an extra dimension to the way in which recycling in the future may work.
While traditional sorting machines use light and air to determine the density of the plastic they are sorting, and therefore the type of plastic stream it needs to enter, this machine learns as it goes.
The intelligent vision system can actively learn about the materials it is sorting, by storing previously collected information and recalling it, while also being able to prioritise the picking order based on size, value and location.
It can immediately recognise card, news and pams, HDPE natural, PET bottles and wood.
Rob Smith, Managing Director at Green Recycling, comments: “We believe that this technology will revolutionise
Not only is the technology capable of sorting up to six different end fractions in one location, but it is also adjustable should the material or markets change, and will deliver significant operational improvements. We can’t wait to put Max to work!”
It is capable of approximately 65 picks per minute.