Caglia Environmental says it’s seeing positive results from a recent robotics and AI equipment installation partnership with EverestLabs and the Can Manufacturers Institute.
Caglia installed an EverestLabs AI-powered robot on its “last chance” residue line at its MRF in Fresno, California. Since August, the facility has recovered an average of 1,565 used beverage cans per day and is on track to capture about 1 million UBCs per year, the robotics company announced Tuesday. Most of those cans previously weren’t being collected.
CMI funded a two-year lease for the equipment. The partnership is meant to collect higher volumes of cans at MRFs in exchange for a share of profits. Caglia will share 50% of the revenue from the UBCs it captures during the lease period with CMI.
EverestLabs said it is now considering working with CMI on placing a robotic system in another MRF.
Corey Stone, plant manager at Caglia Environmental, said in a statement that the partnership is a “win-win for everyone” because of the volume of data the MRF can collect from the AI system. Caglia and CMI have access to those analytics each day, which give insight into UBC recovery metrics, information on any containers that were missed in the sorting process, and other data that informs how the lease payback is going.
Caglia is also using the robotic system to pick other kinds of missed containers when there are no UBCs to pick, the company said.
CMI financed the lease using funding from two of its members, can manufacturers Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings. Those members have provided funding for other MRF infrastructure projects in the past, the companies said.
In October, CMI said the two companies would help fund separate grants for two can-capturing equipment projects at MRFs in California and Indiana. GreenWaste in San Jose, California, will install a second eddy current separator for “undersized” aluminum and other items that missed the MRF’s screening process. RecyclingWorks in Elkhart, Indiana, will install a robotic sorter on its residue conveyor in an effort to collect an estimated 3 million UBCs it believes are currently going to the landfill, the company said in a news release.
The two projects could help capture more than 20 million aluminum beverage cans each year, which could be worth around $325,000 when recycled, CMI said.
This lease program and grant programs are parts of CMI’s multi-year effort to collect more cans from MRFs, saying MRF investments are an important way to generate revenue for recyclers while providing can manufacturers with higher volumes of feedstock for new products. CMI estimates one in four UBCs is missorted in a typical MRF.
