MRF Lakeshore Recycling Systems Improves Aluminum, HDPE Recovery with CMI-Funded AI Robot | Packaging World

EverestLabs’ RecycleOS AI-based sortation algorithm and robot helps LRS catch mis-sorted aluminum and HDPE, valuable material that otherwise would have gone into landfill. Revenue generated from the extra capture supports further CMI can-capture efforts.

EverestLabs, developer of RecycleOS, what it calls the first AI-enabled operating system for material recovery facilities (MRFs) and recyclers, partnered with LRS, the nation’s fifth largest independent waste diversion, recycling and portable services provider.

With funding support from Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) members Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings, LRS installed EverestLabs’ RecycleOS material sorting robot in a flagship MRF it calls The Exchange. The robot resides on the residual line, also called the “last chance” line, to help increase revenue and ensure maximum efficiency, recovery, and recycling of used beverage cans (UBCs). The EverestLabs robot assists in LRS maintaining quality control for a wider system that processes more than 350,000 pounds of recycled aluminum, or approximately 12 million aluminum beverage cans, per month.

The Everest equipment specifically, which has been in the facility for nearly one year, has individually accounted for recovering more than a million recovered aluminum beverage cans at the facility alone, according to Joy Rifkin, sustainability manager at LRS. The value of the recovered material could alone pay for this type of equipment, stakeholders say. For instance, CMI receives a portion of the revenue produced to help fund further projects in can diversion and recovery at MRFs.

“To give you a sense of, the technology, we make a determination from end to end, from first seeing an object [of packaging waste on the residual conveyor] to determining what it is and what course action to take in about 10 to 15 milliseconds,” says Apurba Pradhan, head of product and Marketing at EverestLabs.AI, ofRecycle OS. “In comparison, the best self-driving cars that use similar technologies will make that determination like 100 to 200 milliseconds. That’s a 10 order of magnitude faster AI that we've developed to do this kind of work. And the variability in objects is tremendous. A can that ends up in this facility, might be crushed, or it's in its full natural shape, or anything in between. We have to determine that it's a can, among hundreds of [packaging waste objects] at a time [on the conveyor] in about 10 milliseconds. This is super difficult problem to solve, but once you've done that, then you can program robotics to go after the valuable materials.”Stakeholders say the Everest Labs equipment has diverted more than a million aluminum cans from landfill. Aluminum is a valuable commodity that, when sold to reprocessors to become beverage cans again, can help fund further sortation automation.

The lease program is the latest in a several-year CMI effort to demonstrate the potential additional revenue for the recycling system through capturing missorted UBCs and to spur the installation of additional can capture equipment in MRFs. The partnership with LRS follows on the heels of a collaboration between CMI, EverestLabs and Caglia Environmental, which has captured more than 1,500 additional UBCs per day since installation at a Caglia MRF.

“With both robot lease agreements that include a revenue share, CMI is able to leverage that UBCs are consistently one of the most valuable recyclable commodities,” says Scott Breen, senior vice president of sustainability at CMI. “CMI is receiving a portion of all revenue generated from the cans collected by the robot and then using those funds for even more can-capture equipment in MRFs.”

Capturing missorted cans at MRFs is one way to increase the U.S. aluminum beverage can recycling rate. CMI’s 2020 research, “Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System,” found that up to 25% of all UBCs entering MRFs may be missorted and lost due to non-recovery. Alongside industry statistics showing a little less than half of aluminum beverage cans are recycled by U.S. consumers, it is evident that the aluminum recycling ecosystem needs improvement, and UBCs are not being captured and utilized to their fullest potential in the circular economy. This is why CMI has proper sortation at recycling centers as one of its four pillars of action to reach its ambitious U.S. aluminum beverage can recycling rate targets.

“The Exchange in Chicago is our second project with CMI, and we have been behind their mission to significantly increase the amount of UBCs recycled,” says JD Ambati, founder and CEO of EverestLabs. “Our highly accurate, easily deployed vision systems and robots make it possible to retrofit existing sorting and last chance lines at a cost of ownership that makes perfect sense for both MRFs and aluminum packaging companies.”

LRS’s The Exchange facility is able to divert 224 million pounds of recyclables annually, resulting in thousands of tons of avoided CO2 emissions for the Chicagoland area. The unveiling and environmental mission behind The Exchange has opened opportunities to change the conversation around waste management and educate corporate partners and organizations on responsible production, consumption and recycling behaviors. LRS’ pursuit of reducing its environmental footprint includes tactical changes such as infrastructure improvements, as well as seeking out organizations like EverestLabs to advance efficiency in existing facilities.The residual line, also called the "last chance" line, contains some volume of aluminum cans and HDPE rigid plastics that weren't successfully recovered upstream, in traditional sortation operations.

“At LRS, we’re all about pushing the boundaries in recycling, and partnering with EverestLabs to install this innovative technology amplifies our commitment to sustainable recycling solutions,” says John Sliwicki, area vice president, LRS. “By integrating EverestLabs’ RecycleOS robot into our Chicagoland materials recovery facility, we’ve further enhanced our ability to rescue recyclables from ending up in landfills and advanced our mission of investing in infrastructure improvements that lessen our environmental impact.”

The Exchange accepts up to 1,200 tons per day of municipal solid waste (MSW) and processes 25 tons of recyclables per hour. The facility features a transfer station and a single-stream sorting line with space for future expansion and accepts single-stream recyclables, non-hazardous and non-special MSW, and other various recyclables.