As part of our Finalist Interview series ahead of the Sustainability Awards, we spoke to EverestLabs about RecycleOS, its AI robotics solution for recycling facilities, nominated in the Commercialized Machinery category.
To start off, could you summarise your entry, in less than 50 words?
EverestLabs developed RecycleOS, an AI-powered robotics solution for recycling facilities that is transforming the recycling value chain to strengthen the circular economy. EverestLabs helps the recycling value chain increase the supply of recycled material feedstock by increasing operational visibility and material recovery using AI and robotics.
Tell us about what is innovative about your project and/or about its impact on packaging sustainability.
RecycleOS positively impacts packaging sustainability in a variety of ways. It provides visibility into sorting and recycling operations to increase packaging recycling rates. RecycleOS provides insights that reclaimers and reprocessors can use to improve their feedstock yield and quality. It also can provide much-needed data that producer responsibility organizations (PROs) and packaging companies can use to understand and improve recycling rates.
In addition, EverestLabs has created AI for packaging identification and recovery to inform consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands and packaging manufacturers if their packaging is being recycled or not.
EverestLabs can partner with CPG brands and packaging companies to help them identify and recover their brand-specific packaging in recycling facilities, while also providing them with a vast amount of data about the recyclability of their packaging that will help them meet their corporate sustainability goals. Providing brands data to help them optimize their packaging design for recovery in materials recovery facilities (MRFs) keeps more materials out of landfills and strengthens the circular economy.
Finally, can you tell us about the ongoing development of your project, e.g. how your innovation/initiative has been received by industry, or what are the next steps in commercialization/product development?
We are working with reclaimers on innovative ways to increase their feedstock supply by facilitating off-shoot supply agreements backed by AI system data. We are also looking to partner with CPG brands and packaging manufacturers to identify their packaging life cycle and improve the recyclability of their packaging in recycling facilities.
We are working with packaging trade associations to deploy AI and robotics in recycling centres to increase the recovery of materials like PET and aluminium. This is similar to our work with CAN Manufacturers Institute (CMI), the national trade association of the metal can manufacturing industry, to significantly increase the recovery of used beverage cans (UBCs) in MRFs.
CMI funded an EverestLabs robot at Caglia Environmental’s California MRF that is now recovering a million cans per year, saving approximately 800,000 kwh of energy per year, and 1,565 UBCs every day that can be made into recycled aluminium.
We are looking forward to continuing to partner with MRFs, reclaimers, and packaging companies to increase packaging recovery and support the circular economy.
The winners of the Sustainability Awards 2024 will be announced at the Sustainable Packaging Summit, taking place in Amsterdam on 12-13 November. The Summit mobilizes leaders of the FMCG value chain, policymakers, NGOs, recyclers and investors to collaborate, remove barriers and identify opportunities on the road to sustainable transformation.
To learn more or register, visit: https://www.packagingsummit.earth/2024
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