AI and autonomous robot for waste management

(Photo: ZenRobotics)

Finland-based environmental service provider Kuljetusrinki Ltd has ordered an artificial intelligence-based, automated robot sorting line for the processing of construction and demolition waste from Terex-owned brand ZenRobotics.

The company says that the new fully autonomous and artificial intelligence-based sorting line includes several robots that pick clean and treated wood, non-magnetic metals, hard plastic, aggregates and more. The robots can be taught to recognize and sort almost any material at a speed of 6000 picks per hour. 

The robot system scans the waste on the sorting belt by using several sensors and then signals are analysed by artificial intelligence. The end result of the process is a huge amount of data about the waste and its composition which can then be used to further develop the robot system.

Jukka Aro, Chairman of the Board of Kuljetusrinki, said, “We serve both the private and public sectors, and our main goal is to divert an even greater proportion of waste to recycling and thus raise the recycling rate clearly above the EU and national targets. In the past, sorting waste has not been easy, but in the future robots working independently will do the job.”