The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) has implemented a financing model to support a robot at a California material recovery facility (MRF) owned by Caglia Environmental (Caglia). The robot, designed by EverestLabs, utilizes artificial intelligence and robotics to sort single-stream recyclables and is expected to capture over 1 million used beverage cans (UBCs) annually. Aluminium cans are created with the purest form of the non-ferrous metal, which ascertains 100% recyclability.
To fully finance the two-year equipment lease for Caglia, CMI utilized funds from its members, Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings (Crown). Caglia will share 50 per cent of all revenue generated from the captured UBCs with CMI. This lease program represents CMI's ongoing effort to showcase the potential additional revenue available to the recycling system by capturing mis-sorted UBCs and to encourage the installation of more can-capture equipment in MRFs.
The vice president of global sustainability and regulatory affairs at Crown, John Rost, explained: "We are excited about the lease model because it highlights that aluminium beverage cans are consistently one of the most valuable recyclable commodities and further exemplifies how this recycled beverage container pays its own cost of recycling due to that high market value. CMI research has concluded that without the vital revenue from UBCs, most MRFs would not be able to operate without a change to their business model."
The opportunity to recapture missorted UBCs at MRFs is quite significant. According to CMI's 2020 study, "Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System," as many as one in four aluminium beverage cans are missorted at a typical MRF. CMI also conducted on-the-ground trials in 2022 at five different loss points in three diverse MRFs. These trials revealed an average loss of seven to 36 UBCs per minute, which translates to an annual average revenue loss of $71,900. CMI has commissioned and published an online return-on-investment calculator for MRFs to use, which indicates a payback period of three years.
At Caglia's MRF located in the Cedar Avenue Recycling and Transfer Station (CARTS) in Fresno, California, there is still a possibility to retrieve additional cans. The facility is committed to continuous improvement and recently upgraded its single-stream sort line. The leased robot will be placed on the "last chance line" to efficiently capture UBCs that were mistakenly sorted to the wrong material stream that is headed for the landfill.
The plant maintenance manager at CARTS, Corey Stone, notified: "We put EverestLabs' robot on the last chance line and have it focusing on aluminium beverage cans so that it's picking 'gold' out of the trash. This lease provides a no-risk, no-cost way for Caglia to advance its goal of capturing all recoverable material coming through its facility."
Based on previous vision studies and analysis, Caglia predicts that EverestLabs' robot will effectively intercept 32,000 pounds of UBCs annually that would have otherwise ended up in landfills. This amounts to over 1 million UBCs collected each year, or roughly three UBCs per minute of operation. CMI will receive 50 per cent of all revenue generated from the leased robot's collection efforts, including profits from UBC sales and California's beverage container recycling refund program. If you wish to have a comprehensive outlook of the aluminium recycling sector, please have a look at AL Circle's e-Magazine; Recycling-Reshaping the Future of the Aluminium Value Chain.
The CEO of Ardagh Metal Packaging – North America, Jens Irion, specified: "Considering metal recycles forever – with 93 per cent of recycled aluminium beverage cans turned into new cans and recycled aluminium 94 per cent less carbon-intensive than making primary aluminium – it is imperative that recycling sortation facilities capture all cans for the aluminium industry to buy and recycle. We are proud to have instituted a circular financing model for the textbook example of the circular economy – the aluminium beverage can. The revenue from the cans captured with the leased equipment can be used to finance even more can capture equipment at additional MRFs."
Following the installation of EverestLabs' 3D depth-sensing camera, AI, and robot at Caglia's Fresno MRF, the RecycleOS data platform is now generating daily reports on missorted UBCs, their economic value, and the greenhouse gas emissions saved from recycling them. The equipment is currently able to recover a majority of the 1,400 UBCs identified per day, effectively redirecting them to the circular supply chain instead of sending them to landfills.
Caglia, CMI, and EverestLabs are committed to providing regular updates on the performance of the technology at the MRF, as well as exploring other potential opportunities to further enhance their recovery efforts. CMI is also supporting can capture equipment financing at MRFs through the lease model, with plans to refine their approach based on learnings from this first lease. Additionally, CMI has collaborated with Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown to fund grants from The Recycling Partnership, which has already exceeded expectations by capturing 140 million aluminium beverage cans annually.
EverestLabs, CMI, and Caglia Environmental will be hosting an ISRI webinar on October 4, 2023, to discuss their industry partnerships and the role of AI and robotics in driving deployment in MRFs.
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