University of Sydney researchers develop robots that sort soft plastics.Credit: University of Sydney
- Researchers develop robots to classify soft plastics
- Technology can benefit the recycling industry
Engineering researchers are developing unique ways to increase the recycling of soft plastics by creating intelligent robots that can identify, classify and separate different types of recyclable waste.
Despite recent improvements in plastics recycling, landfill is becoming an increasingly problematic issue. Soft plastics like foils and plastic bags are the main cause of the problem, 94% of which were landfilled in 2016-17.
There is no suitable recycling method as soft plastics are easily caught in garbage sorting machines, resulting in mechanical failure and contamination of other recyclable materials such as paper. Because of this problem, current recycling practices rely on the manual sorting of soft plastics, which is often a repetitive and unsafe task.
In cooperation with industrial partners as part of a federal project grant for joint research centers, researchers of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the telecommunications centers of the University of Sydney will increase the recycling of soft plastics by creating smarts. We develop our own method. , An automated robotic system that uses AI to classify recyclable waste.
The team includes Professor Blanca Vucetic, Professor Yonghui Li, Associate Professor Wanli Ouyang, Dr. Wanchun Liu and the Senior Technical Officer Dawei Tan of the Faculty of Electrical and Information Technology.
Professor Branka Vucetic, Dr. Wanchun Liu, Dr. Wanli Ouyang, Professor Yonghui Li and recycling robots. Credit: University of Sydney
Recycling robotic automation systems use artificial intelligence and computer vision to learn how to identify different forms of recycled waste, effectively learn how to see and classify and separate ‘waste’. Creates a waste stream and maintains the purity of soft plastics. It can be recycled, ”says Professor Franka Vucetic, an IoT expert.
“Soft plastics have long contributed to landfills and have long posed a circular and waste management challenge due to the lack of suitable and safe sorting methods. With the latest IoT technology, this has been a challenge. We have developed a bespoke robot that solves the problem, ”says Professor Li Yonghui.
“Australia generated 2.5 million tons of plastic waste, including soft plastic, between 2018 and 2019. Only 9% was recycled and 84% was sent to landfill. We want to switch significantly between these percentages by developing a solution that can recycle most of the soft plastic waste, ”says Dr. Wanchun Liu.
Researchers are working with waste management companies IQRenew and CurbCycle, technology developers Licella, Mike Ritchie and Associates, and Resource Recovery Design to develop the system.
“Soft plastics have long been a challenge to the circular economy and waste management due to their significant contribution to landfills and the lack of suitable and safe sorting methods.”
– – Professor Lee Yonghui, Faculty of Electrical and Information Technology
The system will be integrated into IQ Renew’s material recovery facility as part of CurbCycle’s soft plastic recovery program. This is an Australian initiative to collect recyclable items at home and then put them in the roadside recycling bins.
“Our project goes beyond just dumping soft household plastic into landfills. We bring household waste to the end market by working with industry and research partners to develop waste collection and separation solutions. We are also creating a sustainable supply chain, ”said Associate Professor Wanli Ouyang.
“The robot identifies the ‘curby tagged’ bag, distinguishes the source of the plastic and separates the soft plastic from the fully mixed, recyclable one,” he said.
Once separated from other wastes, the soft plastic is further developed into petroleum and other valuable chemicals using Resera Holdings’ patented catalytic hydrothermal reactor technology (Cat-HTR ™). It is used for various purposes such as recycling. Licella was founded by Professor Thomas Maschmeyer from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Dr. Len Humphreys, CEO of Licella, and has been supported by the University of Sydney for 14 years.
“This highly innovative material flow process expands the scope of the Cat HTR conversion technology to include increasingly difficult waste streams and underscores the benefits of close industrial and academic collaboration. “I will,” said Professor Maschmeyer.
The researcher received $ 2,999,220 under the Australian federal government’s CRC-P grant.
Professor Thomas Maschmeyer from the university’s chemistry department is a Principal Technology Consultant at Licella.
AI-powered recycling robot could help solve the plastic waste crisis Source link AI-powered recycling robot could help solve the plastic waste crisis
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