(Credit: Bryson Recycling)Bryson Recycling is adding four more artificial intelligence-powered Recycleye Robots, supplementing one that has already been in operation since 2021 at the company's Mallusk facility in Northern Ireland.
Bryson Recycling’s decision to invest in more Recycleye robots is aimed at further enhancing its recycling operations. The move is expected to yield several benefits, including improved material quality, enhanced recycling rates, reduced residual waste, and cost savings. This marks the first recycling robot re-purchase in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the company said.
The four new robots will be strategically placed in the main sorting cabin at Bryson's materials recovery facility (MRF) on the outskirts of Belfast, where more than 100 individuals are employed.
Two of these robots will be stationed over a fiber line, tasked with meticulously picking non-paper items like plastics, cans, and cardboard, thereby reducing contamination. The remaining two robots will be deployed on a residual line, where their mission is to identify recyclable materials, diverting larger volumes into the recycling process instead of ending up in Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities.
Recycleye Robots, located in London, is designed to reduce costs with its manual picking operations.
The technology, which uses AI, can collect nearly 33,000 objects per 10-hour shift. These waste-picking robots, aptly named Recycleye Robotics, excel at the physical tasks of identifying, picking, and placing materials with a consistency that surpasses human operatives. Importantly, they work in tandem with human employees, complementing their efforts rather than replacing them.
These AI-driven robots with a computer vision system are capable of identifying every individual item on waste streams by material and object. Positioned atop the facility's existing waste stream conveyor belts, this AI system provides the Engineering Manager with comprehensive insight into the waste stream. This newfound visibility greatly enhances the efficiency and overall effectiveness of the plant's sorting processes.
Bryson Recycling's reach extends to collecting and processing materials from more than 50% of households in Northern Ireland. With a workforce of more than 350 individuals spread across 12 sites in Northern Ireland, Donegal, and Wales, the company is not only contributing to local employment but also fostering the development of the U.K.'s circular economy. The majority of the recycled materias processed remain within the U.K. Jaroslaw Stanislawek, the engineering manager at Bryson Recycling, said that with the purchase of four more Recycleye Robots, nearly 11,000 pounds of materials were collected.
