ZenRobotics to install units in Switzerland for fully automated facility

Helsinki-based ZenRobotics Ltd. and Switzerland-based Sogetri have agreed on a delivery of robotic sorting systems to a new material sorting facility that will be built on Sogetri’s existing site in Satigny, Switzerland.

Construction of the fully automated waste sorting and recycling center will begin in June 2018. The center is expected to be operational by March 2019. The facility will process more than 70,000 tons of industrial waste annually, including construction debris, urban waste from companies and materials from bulky companies and municipalities.

Sogetri, established in 1997 in Geneva and part of the Helvetia Environnement Group since 2005, is the primary waste processor in Romandy. The company says the new facility will help the region to increase its recycling rate and decrease its incineration volumes.

“For the first time in Switzerland, a sorting center will reach a sorting rate of 80 percent of the incoming waste stream (ferrous and nonferrous metals, wood, paper, cardboard and plastics) against 30 percent today and a rate of valuation higher than 70 percent,” Sogetri says in a news release announcing the investment. “It will significantly reduce the incineration volumes from 70 percent to 20 percent of materials.”

ZenRobotics’ robotic sorting systems will be a central part of the modern sorting facility that will run fully automated, says Sogetri. The equipment includes optical sorters, ballistic screens and robotic arms that will be able to sort large pieces of material weighing up to 30 kilograms, the company says.

Sogetri says no jobs will be lost. Instead, a dozen jobs will be created to run the facility, including maintenance positions.

“We are very excited about this project as the facility will be a modern facility that relies on the newest technologies. We are happy that our robotic sorting technology can support our customer in realizing their vision of a future-proof process,” says Juha Mieskonen, ZenRobotics head of sales.

Sogetri says that the robotization of sorting and recycling will continue. “In the future [Sogetri] see[s] potential for additional fully automated sites as technologies evolve and more complex sorting tasks become possible,” the company says in the news release.