AMP Robotics Corp. announced on Wednesday, Sept. 22, that it has installed its first artificially intelligence-guided robotics systems in the UK and Ireland with RecyCo, a recycling and waste management business in Northern Ireland. As part of the project, two robots—a single AMP Cortex™ unit along with a tandem unit—have been installed on RecyCo’s fiber lines for quality control to improve pick rates and bale purity.
“We’re delighted to bring our first robots to the UK and Ireland as we continue to see strong demand for our AI and automation solutions and build our pipeline in Europe,” says Gary Ashburner, European general manager for AMP. “RecyCo has been a superb partner in this process, and recognizes our technology addresses chronic staffing challenges it and many recyclers face, while aligning with its goals of maximizing recovery, increasing landfill diversion, and advancing sustainability.”
The high-speed robotics systems are guided by AMP’s proprietary technology, which applies computer vision and deep learning. Utilizing the technology, the robotics systems can precisely identify, differentiate, and recover recyclables by color, size, shape, opacity, and more, storing data about each item it perceives. AMP’s sorting technology can pick upwards of 80 items per minute, which is approximately twice the pace of a human sorter. The company has recorded up to 150 picks per minute with its tandem units.
AMP’s AI platform can quickly adapt to packaging introduced into the recycling stream with recognition capabilities to the brand level. This is becoming more important for companies that specialize in consumer packaged goods as demand for sufficient quantities of high-quality recycled material grows to meet their commitment to using postconsumer recycled content.
“AMP’s robots have quickly doubled the pick rates we were accustomed to, maintaining and even improving the purity of our bales, which we depend on to maximize prices with our end-market buyers,” says Michael Cunningham, owner and CEO, RecyCo. “We’re proud to be leading the way for AI-powered recycling in these islands, and look forward to continued gains in productivity and efficiency.”
Photo courtesy of Business Wire. Caption: AMP Cortex™ installation at RecyCo in Northern Ireland.
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