Building a circular economy with waste recognised as raw material

Family-owned Finnish waste management company Kuljetusrinki aims to support the green transition and help its customers achieve their recycling and sustainability targets. To meet increasingly stricter sustainability requirements and regulations the company has invested in an ultra-modern robot sorting line. The new robot line uses AI to identify a practically unlimited number of various types of waste. The technology can distinguish between different types of waste, such as plastic, much more accurately than the human eye. The robots can pick as many as 6,900 items per hour and lift objects weighing up to 30 kilograms – drastically increasing recycling volumes and making the process safer and more efficient.

“The robot sorting line is a huge investment for us and our way of promoting the circular economy in a very tangible way. The new technology allows us to increase the amount of raw material destined for recycling and reduce the amount of incinerated waste, which also cuts carbon emissions. During the summer we have trained the AI to recognise materials correctly and we intend to get the robot line up and running in August,” says Markus Närhi, CEO of Kuljetusrinki. Businesses need high-quality data to support decision-making and measure their green transition, according to Markus Närhi.

“The new robot line will multiply the amount of high-quality and detailed data available to our customers and us. It will significantly improve our understanding of waste materials and their composition. We’re going to reach a whole new level in our reporting, which is important for our customers, as it allows us to help them reach their own recycling and sustainability targets.” The robot line was provided by ZenRobotics, which is part of the TEREX Group. The close collaboration between the two companies continues and the facility is used as a reference for companies across Europe that are interested in the new technology.

Source: Nordea