The story of today’s MI environment is raccoon recycling.
ANN ARBOR — Michigan is currently one of the top three states in the country for plastic recycling, according to a recent survey. Wise Voter Research.
Ann Arbor’s SamurAI recycling sorting robot.
Ann Arbor is also making plastic recycling easier thanks to the upcoming arrival of state-of-the-art SamurAI sorting robots that will enable the city’s recycling agency to process and sell more plastic than ever before. . “This is a big and exciting deal. Our new robot is a breakthrough that will transform the way certain types of plastics are recycled more safely, with volumes and efficiencies never seen before.” Ukena, CEO of Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA), a nationally acclaimed nonprofit organization best known for creating Michigan’s first street recycling program in 1978.
“At the same time, as more and more communities are starting to use these SamurAI sorting robots, we can help our country address the plastic pollution crisis,” said Ukena.
The RAA is already revitalizing recycling in Southeast Michigan with a new materials recovery facility (MRF) that sorts recyclable materials and sells them to manufacturers for use in new products.
MRF opens December 1, 2021 at 4150 Pratt Road, Ann Arbor. After a 12-month construction period, he completed his $7.25 million overhaul of a facility that had been non-functioning since 2016. Both its physical redesign and operational strategy follow a zero-waste ethic aimed at supporting an effective and sustainable recycling system.
Fly with EGLE
The MRF construction project received an $800,000 grant from the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). This is in line with EGLE’s national award-winning goals. Know Before You Throw A recycling education campaign featuring recycling raccoons adorning recycling bins on street corners throughout Ann Arbor.
As a regional hub designed to handle 34,000 tons per year in a single shift, MRF will provide much-needed recycling infrastructure in Southeast Michigan.
The RAA not only serves the City of Ann Arbor on a 10-year contract, but also processes materials from the City of Ypsilanti and surrounding areas. These cities have previously shipped recyclables out of state for sorting. Ann Arbor is saving $640,000 annually compared to previous contracts that transported materials long distances for processing. The RAA team expects the savings from processing materials on-site will continue to grow as the market for recyclable materials improves.
Despite the overwhelming success of the new MRF, determining how to improve its plastic recycling performance remains a major obstacle faced by the RAA and continues to plague recyclers nationwide.
problematic plastic
Plastic is a cheap, strong and durable synthetic material. Its properties make it an attractive material for production and consumption, but the same properties are problematic for the environment. Mainly because it doesn’t decompose easily and ends up in oceans, landfills or road litter.
The Ann Arbor MRF classifies plastics into separate piles based on melting temperature. Historically, RAA staff have manually sorted certain plastics for recycling, but too much of it ends up in landfills because the conveyor moves through his belt at high speed, making it difficult to identify. sent to the ground.
Enter SamurAI sorting robot Made Machinex Technologies.
SamurAI Solution
The machine is an adaptive robot powered by artificial intelligence to more accurately and efficiently identify certain types of plastics and other materials, especially safe, fast and effective in identifying and selecting polypropylene (PP) plastics. selection. PP is the type of plastic labeled No. 5 on grocery packaging such as yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, and butter containers.
Now, with the introduction of SamurAI robots, the RAA is increasing its recycling capacity for PP to at least 360 tons per year, diverting it from landfills.
Recycled PP is commonly used by manufacturers to make caps, cups, auto parts, paint cans, shipping packages, household goods and other products. Less than 10 years since the PP was collected for recycling. But his MRFs across Michigan are making significant investments, collecting and sorting is growing, and in part with support from his EGLE, national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership and others. is receiving
The RAA’s acquisition of SamurAI was funded by a $200,000 grant from EGLE and an additional $186,000 from the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, a recycling partnerships initiative.
- Benefits of RAA’s SamurAI solution include:
- Similar to the human eye, it identifies discriminatory features of recyclables.
- Recognize recyclable materials in dirty, tangled and ever-changing situations, including the introduction of new packaging and designs.
- Continuously improve and learn from operational experience.
- It reaches a maximum of 70 processing “picks” per minute. That’s nearly double the average speed of someone manually sorting items at a recycling processing center.
- Remove small, light materials with a unique integrated suction system that reduces RAA’s daily operating costs.
- Protects workers from handling hazardous materials such as batteries, needles and household chemicals.
SamurAI Safety ROI
The importance of improving employee safety and improving working conditions at Ann Arbor MRF is particularly important, Ukena said.
of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2020 Employer Reporting Workplace Injury and Illness Reporting showed that the injury and illness rate per 100 full-time workers at material recovery facilities rose from 3.6 in 2019 to 5.1 in 2020.
“Manual handling of recycled materials is a hazardous occupation for humans. Needlesticks can cause hepatitis, scrapes and cuts are common, and hands get caught in the packaging process and conveyor belts. In many ways, it’s a more dangerous job than firefighting,” said the honoree.
“It is also important to know that our SamurAI robots do not replace workers. They only improve quality control and reduce workplace safety risks,” he added.
profit potential
About 3.5 billion pounds of rigid polypropylene packaging is sold nationwide each year, but very little is recycled. The RAA hopes to improve recycling of his PP at the new facility when his SamurAI robot is operational this fall.
“Because polypropylene is a polymer, the sales and use of polypropylene have grown significantly across the country.
Chosen for foodservice and packaging due to its positive health profile and potential
Matt Flechter, Recycling Market Development Specialist at EGLE, said:
Major retailers, dairy brands, and quick-service restaurants are moving from polystyrene (commonly called Styrofoam) to PP, especially in food and food service applications, as they demand materials that can be sorted by local MRFs. increase.
The RAA expects SamurAI’s faster sorting speeds to increase revenue from sales of RAA’s recycled plastics. As a result, it is expected to contribute an average of $72,000 annually to the City of Ann Arbor’s coffers and create new sources of funding for all of Washtenaw County’s municipal partners.
“We are confident that the demand for recycled polypropylene will increase in the near future because being able to include it on product labels demonstrates the commitment of big name brands to using recycled materials in their product lines.” ‘ said Ukena.
What you can recycle, and how, depends on where you live and what you’re trying to recycle. For more information on recycling in Michigan, please visit: RecyclingRaccoons.org.
