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Photo courtesy of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE Ireland)
The Dublin-based Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE Ireland) has partnered with Irish waste and recycling firm Panda on a project targeted toward significantly improving the recycling process of beverage cartons placed on the Irish market.
As part of that collaboration, ACE Ireland has funded the installation of robotic sorting technology at Panda’s materials recovery facility (MRF) in the Ballymount section of Dublin.
The robot will be tasked with identifying, picking and sorting cartons at the MRF into a dedicated stream. The sorted materials then will be shipped to ACE’s specialized carton recycling facility in the United Kingdom, which is operated by Sonoco Stainland.
The automated sorting technology is developed by London-based Recycleye and Japan-based Fanuc. ACE Ireland says the device has the capacity to make 33,000 picks during a 10-hour shift.
“Capable of scanning, detecting and picking materials across 28 classes (including beverage cartons), the sorter is quick and easy to install over existing recycling lines with minimal disruption to the operation of the MRF,” the organization says.
“Working with ACE Ireland, we are delighted to announce our long-term commitment to sorting cartons at our Ballymount MRF,” says Brian McCabe, the CEO of Beauparc, which is the parent company of Panda.
“We receive over 90,000 metric tons of mixed dry recyclable materials into the Ballymount facility per annum from over 400,000 homes, all of which needs to be sorted into different waste streams. As such, we recognize the important role we have in delivering and supporting innovation to enhance recycling and waste management in Ireland.
“We anticipate over 500 metric tons of cartons will be sorted per annum for onward recycling with an expectation that this will further increase as we bed in the new technology. Our message to the consumer is to place cartons into the green or blue recycling bin—clean, dry, and loose—along with their other recyclable materials," McCabe adds.
ACE Ireland represents Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc, which the alliance calls the leading manufacturers of mixed-material beverage cartons for the Irish and European markets. The cartons are typically made from about 75 percent paper fiber, around 21 percent polyethylene and about 4 percent aluminum.
“As an industry, we are committed to increasing carton recycling rates and improving recycling practices through targeted investment, the development of new technology, and working with industry partners,” says ACE Ireland Chief Executive Richard Hands says.
Awantika Chadha, sustainability manager at Tetra Pak, says, “This initiative marks the latest step in our ongoing investment in recycling solutions. Through our partnership with ACE Ireland, we are committed to improving the resilience of our food supply chain by working closely with the government and waste management companies to further increase the carton recycling rate.”
“The carton industry has set a target of achieving a 70 percent recycling rate by 2030,” Hands says. “The launch of dedicated sorting at Ireland’s largest MRF in Ballymount is an important step in meeting that target. Introducing new and emerging sorting technologies across Ireland’s MRF network should be a key focus in the transition to a circular economy. This will allow MRFs to separate more materials and increase overall recycling rates.”
Attending an early July tour of the Ballymount MRF, Ossian Smyth, Ireland’s minister of state with special responsibility for the circular economy, said, “The creation of a circular economy and the achievement of our ambitious reuse and recycling targets requires strong partnerships and innovative solutions. I’m delighted to be here today at the launch of this new technology, which will improve recycling processes and drive higher recycling rates.”
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