Food and beverage processing and packaging company Tetra Pak and Australian Paper Recovery (APR) Kerbside have invested in the implementation of an innovative recycling robot that can identify and sort used Tetra Pak beverage cartons.
The robot is now installed at the APR Kerbside Material Recovery Facility in Truganina, Victoria, where over 20,000 tonnes of materials will be processed annually. The items will be collected from residents’ yellow-lidded recycling bins, which include paper and cardboard, steel, and aluminium, as well as plastic bottles and containers.
The robot is designed to continuously learn to recognise all different types of beverage cartons, like milk, soy, oat, almond, stock and juice ahead of its final deployment in the coming weeks.
“Tetra Pak is incredibly proud to be pioneering this exciting recycling innovation with APR to further advance the circular economy in Australia,” said Vikas Ahuja, sustainability director at Tetra Pak Australia and New Zealand. “For us at Tetra Pak, to be the first market outside of the U.S. to introduce this AI-powered recycling robot is testament to the steadfast progress we have been making in our sustainability journey in Australia.”
The councils collaborating with APR Kerbside said they are eager to expand the current kerbside service offering to their respective residents in order to divert more valuable resources from landfill.
“Future aspirations of expanding and working towards additional MRF’s in Victoria will allow us to increase our processing capacity. We are looking to install more AI- robots as part of our upgrade and expansion plans. It is our commitment to continue supporting carton recycling infrastructure and enable the circular economy so that Australians know their recycling efforts aren’t going to waste,” said Darren Thrope, managing director of APR Kerbside.
APR Kerbside said it intends to transport Tetra Pak beverage cartons to the newly opened saveBOARD facility in Warragamba NSW so they can be recycled into sustainable building materials until the saveBOARD plant in Victoria comes into operation in 2024.
Tetra Pak was recently involved in the opening of Australia’s first beverage carton recycling facility in Warragamba, New South Wales.
