Robots Become a Reality in the Evolution of Carton Recycling

September 19, 2017

Today’s Guest Blog is by Jason Pelz, vice president of recycling projects for the Carton Council of North America and vice president, environment, for Tetra Pak cluster Americas.

The Carton Council of North America and AMP Robotics recently announced that a carton-plucking robot has been installed at Dem-Con Companies, a recycling, processing and disposal company in Minneapolis.

The AMP Cortex identifies, grabs and sorts food and beverage cartons from the recycling stream so they can be sent to recyclers and turned into new materials, such as tissues, paper towels and other paper materials, as well as sustainable building and construction materials. Once fully operational, the robot will be able to pick up 60 or more cartons per minute, considerably more than a human’s average pickup rate of 40.

Dem-Con is constantly looking at innovative ways to maximize recycling and found the AMP Cortex to be a prime example. By adding the robot, the facility can now sort more cartons more efficiently, reducing the amount that ends up in landfills.

The robot is the second installation for the Carton Council and AMP Robotics, following the successful launch of a pilot project earlier this year at Alpine Waste & Recycling in Denver. Through the use of artificial intelligence, the robots learn to identify different cartons and get smarter over time. The robot at Alpine is working 16 hours a day sorting cartons and accumulating data, which can be transferred to other robots to improve carton recycling.

The Carton Council views the growth of the AMP Cortex as a cost-effective, long-term way to continue expanding carton recycling. While the system is currently sorting only food and beverage cartons, it is learning from all the materials that pass below it. In the future, it will be able to sort other recyclables and be programmed to pick out contaminants, such as plastic bags.

The installation at Dem-Con was made possible through a grant from the Carton Council as part of its ongoing efforts to improve and expand carton recycling. The Carton Council has a comprehensive strategy in place to further grow access and drive the recycling of aseptic and gable-top cartons. The strategy includes ensuring strong end markets and sorting performance, deploying school recycling programs, participating in relevant policy and legislative dialogues, and motivating consumers to recycle.

In January, carton recycling officially became mainstream, with 60 percent of U.S. households able to recycle food and beverage cartons through curbside and other local recycling programs.

To see a video of the robot at work click here.

Jason Pelz is vice president of recycling projects for the Carton Council of North America and vice president, environment, for Tetra Pak cluster Americas. The Carton Council is composed of four leading carton manufacturers, Elopak, SIG Combibloc, Evergreen Packaging and Tetra Pak, as well as an associate member, Nippon Dynawave Packaging. It formed in 2009 to deliver long-term collaborative solutions for diverting valuable cartons from landfills. The Carton Council is committed to building a sustainable infrastructure for carton recycling nationwide and works toward the continual goal of adding access to carton recycling throughout the United States.

NERC welcomes Guest Blog submissions. To inquire about submitting articles contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager at athena(at)nerc.org. Disclaimer: Guest blogs represent the opinion of the writers and may not reflect the policy or position of the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc.