Sorting robotics are amongst the most expensive investments that facilities make to recover more value from their material. Individual robotic arms can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but a lack of visibility into waste flows makes it difficult for waste professionals to predict the return on those massive infrastructure investments.
Each waste stream is a unique mixture of target material and contaminants. Without understanding waste composition in detail, it’s hard to assess whether there’s enough valuable material being lost to present a strong case for robotic automation.
As Canada’s leading provider of integrated sorting machinery and software, Waste Robotics are familiar with this visibility challenge. We’ve partnered with them to provide the missing data their customers need to assess robotics investments.
In a new use-case for AI waste analytics, Waste Robotics is using Greyparrot Analyzer to characterise material streams, and identify the most impactful opportunities for automated robotic sorting. Known as the Robot Validator, the technology will help waste organisations identify robotics investments that actually deliver on their promised value.
Guide infrastructure investment with real-world data
The Robot Validator uses data from our Greyparrot Analyzer system to gather data on key facility conveyor belts like the residue line. Together with their customers at waste management organisations, Waste Robotics determine the return on potential robotic investments by measuring the real-world material that’s being missed by existing sorting systems.
In one Canadian materials recovery facility, for example, the Robot Validator revealed that:
- At least 1,260 objects classed as “valuable” were lost to the residue line every hour, over half of which were considered “highly valuable”.
- 90% of those valuable items were large enough for robotic sorters to pick up and recover.
With the help of data on item counts and material volume from Greyparrot Analyzer, Waste Robotics demonstrated that installing a robotic sorter on this residue stream would capture a significant amount of valuable material, and boost recovery rates. Here, an investment in robotics would result in a measurable increase in valuable material recovery.
"This strategic partnership between Waste Robotics and Greyparrot highlights our joint commitment to delivering customized, data-driven solutions perfectly suited to our clients' needs.
With the Robot Validator, we are confident in our ability to assist customers in maximizing ROI and minimizing payback. Our modular sorting solutions are specifically designed to adapt to various circumstances and use cases."– Ziad Akl-Chedid, Vice President of Products at Waste Robotics
Shaping the future of recycling infrastructure with AI waste analytics
The Robot Validator marks the beginning of our partnership with Waste Robotics — and our second major partnership in North America . Together with the Waste Robotics team, we’re applying the insights generated by AI waste analytics systems to help waste organisations find the most impactful use-cases for robotics.
Having transformed the way facility operators respond to changing material flows and market conditions, AI waste analytics systems are now helping them shape the very infrastructure they use to process waste.
Gaspard Duthilleul, Greyparrot’s COO, notes that Waste Robotics will play a key role in broadening the impact of waste intelligence in recovery facilities:
"The collaboration between Greyparrot and Waste Robotics is a testament to our shared commitment to client-centred innovation. By leveraging waste intelligence, we actively assist customers in making informed decisions and obtaining purpose-fit products, driving operational excellence in waste management practices."
– Gaspard Duthilleul, COO at Greyparrot
