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We all know automation is coming more and more into our lives — soon vehicles won’t even need drivers anymore. So this article in a Resource Recycling caught my eye. The title of it was “How recycling robots have spread across North America.”
“Over just a few years, robotic sorting has gone from a gee-whiz laboratory curiosity to a key technology in a number of different types of facilities,” the article said.
I found the first record of a sorting robot installed to work in a recycling facility was in Denver just three years ago. Since then, data shows the recycling sector has embraced robotics and the trend continues as more robots are ordered.
In a recent check of the numbers now being used, it is estimated over 80 robots are either working or have been purchased in the U.S. and Canada. They are being used to sort both residential and commercial recyclables, plus mixed-waste, plastics, shredded electronics and debris from construction and demolition.
A spokesperson for the Denver unit said, “We’ve been really fortunate to see a lot of industry demand come out of it. We always thought the robots would be a big deal for recycling, but the quick uptake of the systems has been…a rewarding surprise for me personally.”
It appears most robots — over 51 percent — are working in single-stream material recovery facilities with material from curbside recycling. Others are sorting mixed waste — over 8 percent — and electronics has over 5 percent, PET plastic also has over 5 percent plus construction and demolition and other materials not broken out have about 31 percent.
A few of the U.S. states that have started using these sorting robots are:
- California has 27
- South Carolina has 9
- Pennsylvania has 8
- Florida has 6
- Wisconsin has 4
- Texas has 3
- Minnesota has 3
Another dozen or so have one or two units. You will notice they seem to be spread out across the country.
Some of the reasons for installing such sorting robotics are: Persistent staffing challenges, safety, difficult markets requiring sorting reliability, lower processing costs and better bale quality (especially due to China’s new restrictions on their imports of recyclables). Also, robots no longer are prohibitively expensive.
Although the price of the robots can vary greatly, depending on their capabilities, the mean is probably about $200. And the robots are evolving into more features and capabilities. Some are now using visioning systems independent of mechanical sorting arms. Others are using VIS, short for visual identification system, while still others are designed to work alongside human sorters.
The systems are also moving outside the municipal recycling sphere. These include seeing future sorting robots used in organics and automotive scrap sorting. It is good to see robots taking the place of humans in dirty and dangerous jobs allowing these humans to earn a living in a better atmosphere.
Till next week, do have a great one...
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Ollie is a local citizen concerned with the environment and helping others. A retired Air Force fighter and instructor pilot, he is a graduate of Leadership San Marcos and received his degrees at Texas State University where he worked on staff before totally retiring. For questions or comments, he invites you to call him at 512-353-7432 or email [email protected].
