Tetra Pak and Australian Paper Recovery (APR) Kerbside have teamed up to implement an AI robot that they say can identify, and sort used Tetra Pak beverage cartons, and which they say will be the first of many.
The robot has been commissioned at the APR Kerbside Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Truganina, Victoria, which has the capacity to process up to 20,000 tonnes of materials annually. The facility mainly sorts items from the kerbside stream, including items collected from residents’ yellow lidded recycling bins such as paper and cardboard, steel, aluminium, plastics (bottles and containers).
The robot has been in training, learning to recognise all the different types of beverage cartons, like milk, soy, oat, almond, stock and juice, ahead of its final deployment in the coming weeks.
PKN spoke to Vikas Ahuja, sustainability director at Tetra Pak Australia and New Zealand, about the partnership, and he said: “APR joined us early in our journey to introduce new recycling solutions in Australia as a collaborator and potential investor. Tetra Pak and APR share the same goals in terms of our commitment to innovation and sustainability, so this collaboration came naturally for us.”
He further explained that Tetra Pak is always looking to improve the circularity of its packages, meaning that this joint investment with APR holds great potential to increase the collection, sorting and recycling of its carton packages.
“By innovating in the AI robot technology, we can help reduce food waste, energy and water consumption, as well as enable the repurposing of food and beverage packaging. This ultimately supports us in advancing our recycling and sustainability goals, but also supporting a low carbon circular economy across Australia,” he added.
“For us at Tetra Pak, to be the first market outside of the US to introduce this AI-powered recycling robot, is testament to the steadfast progress we have been making in our sustainability journey in Australia,” Ahuja concluded.
PKN asked Darren Thorpe, managing director of APR Kerbside, if there are plans to expand this project, to which he said: "Whilst it's still a work in progress, APR Kerbside is looking to scale up by opening two new facilities in Victoria in the next two years. Our Truganina MRF has the capacity to process up to 20,000 tonnes of materials annually and mainly sorts resources from the kerbside stream. The two additional facilities will each feature AI Robotics and allow us to significantly increase our total processing capacity. With our additional facilities and expansion plans to invest in additional sorting equipment, we are aiming to have the capacity to handle over 100,000 tonnes annually."
PKN also asked Thorpe what the advantages of AI robots are for recycling, to which he responded: “Currently, where manual handling is required throughout different stages of the sorting process, humans are utilised which can be an expensive and laborious process. The robots present a more efficient, automated alternative to this manual sorting. Overtime, the robots are more economical and are also able to sort smaller items compared to the traditional equipment and processes that we currently use in our operations. Whilst we are excited to automate the sorting process through innovative technology, we value all our workers and intend to re-deploy current staff to other positions within the business."
Tetra Pak says it has also supported the opening of Australia’s first beverage carton recycling facility in Warragamba, New South Wales. APR Kerbside plans to transport Tetra Pak beverage cartons to the newly opened saveBOARD facility, in Warragamba NSW, so they can be recycled into sustainable building materials until the saveBOARD plant in Victoria (jointly funded by the Victoria Government) comes into operation in 2024.
