LRS and CMI partner to “rescue recyclable aluminum cans from landfills” with Everest Labs’ AI-powered robot

20 May 2024 --- LRS, the US’ fifth-largest independent waste diversion, recycling and portable services provider, has partnered with Everest Labs to boost aluminum can recovery at its new recycling facility, dubbed “The Exchange,” in Chicago. The initiative is supported by funding from Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) members Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings. 

Packaging Insights speaks to John Sliwicki, executive vice president for the Central Region at LRS, and Scott Breen, senior vice president of sustainability at CMI, to get the scoop.

LRS, which opened The Exchange in August 2023, has committed to reducing its environmental footprint by implementing advanced recycling technologies. The installation of the RecycleOS robot by Everest Labs on the residual line — to help increase revenue and ensure maximum recovery and recycling of used beverage cans (UBCs) — is a key feature of the materials recovery facility (MRF). 

RecycleOS is a sorting robot with cutting-edge AI-enabled technology to enhance material recovery. 

The facility can process 25 tons of recyclables per hour and accepts up to 1,200 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) daily. It features a transfer station and a single-stream sorting line, with plans for future expansion.

The initiative is part of a broader CMI effort to improve the US aluminum beverage can recycling rate. CMI’s 2020 research revealed that up to 25% of aluminum beverage cans entering MRFs are missorted and lost. The partnership aims to capture these missorted cans, thereby increasing the efficiency and profitability of recycling operations. 

“With robot lease agreements that include a revenue share, CMI can leverage that UBCs are consistently one of the most valuable recyclable commodities,” shares Breen. “CMI is receiving a portion of all revenue generated from the cans collected by the robot and using those funds for even more can-capture equipment in MRFs.”

The Exchange can process 25 tons of recyclables per hour and accepts up to 1,200 tons of MSW daily.What is the significance of this partnership in enhancing aluminum can recovery and recycling processes?
Sliwicki: LRS is always looking for opportunities to innovate and maximize circularity. The partnership with Everest Labs for the RecycleOS robot seemed like a natural choice, and they’ve been instrumental in helping us maximize our recycling impact and capacity. We know aluminum can be endlessly recycled and is one of the most sustainable materials. By adding the RecycleOS robot to our facility, we ensure one of our most recyclable materials avoids landfills, increasing diversion rates in our communities. 

The RecycleOS robot is on LRS’ residual line, ensuring that valuable UBCs that were not captured by our equipment are appropriately sorted and can be recycled. Operationally, this enforces our commitment to finding sustainable recycling solutions, increases revenue by capturing UBCs that would have been lost and ensures we are leveraging new tactics to ensure the recovery rates of recyclable materials in our facilities are as high as possible.

What does CMI aim to achieve with the funding support?
Breen: CMI is financing can-capture equipment, including this lease of a robot from Everest Labs, to make progress toward its ambitious US aluminum beverage can recycling targets, the first of which is increasing the recycling rate to 70% by 2030. 

One of the four actions to make progress toward these targets is “proper sortation at recycling centers,” which has resulted in funding both grants and leases of can-capture equipment. With grants, CMI has announced six through a partnership with The Recycling Partnership, with equipment that will annually capture 115.5 million used beverage cans. With leases, CMI has funded two of them, both through Everest Labs. 

All the financing for can-capture equipment has been with the support of CMI members Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings. CMI plans to continue looking for opportunities to finance grants and leases that capture cans at MRFs for recycling that otherwise would have been missorted. 

What are LRS’s long-term objectives regarding waste management and recycling practices?
Sliwicki: LRS is committed to showing the world how powerful responsible recycling can be. We are always in the pursuit of more innovative, sustainable solutions that lessen our environmental impact. Integrating the RecycleOS robot into The Exchange is a testament to this pursuit, and we hope to continue implementing sustainable and innovative solutions wherever possible across the communities we serve.

How does LRS ensure that its recycling facilities maintain high environmental responsibility and efficiency standards?
Sliwicki: The Exchange serves as a transfer station for MSW, which is then transported to further locations for processing. We do not process municipal solid waste in the MRF — we only process single-stream recycling.

To ensure our facilities meet LRS standards, we conduct thorough maintenance and cleaning daily and evaluate our operations constantly. Ensuring that our facilities are safe and healthy for employees and operating at maximum efficiency is of paramount importance, especially as we evaluate potential areas for innovation.

By Radhika Sikaria