• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Your Membership
    • Edit Your Profile
  • Services
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsored posts
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Shop
    • My Account
    • Cart
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Events

Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

  • News
  • Features
  • Video
  • Webinars
  • White papers
  • Press releases
  • Featured companies
    • BlueBotics
    • SICK Sensor Intelligence
    • Vicor Power

The Robotic Revolution in Recycling

April 13, 2020 by Polly Leave a Comment

AMP Robotics has received significantly more orders for recycling-sorting robots since the start of the pandemic.

Some see this as a sign of things to come: nonessential workers in struggling industries being replaced by robots.

While most people would not have called recycling a “struggling industry” a month ago, Covid-19 has forced recycling plants to close, save those who traded human workers for machines.

The question remains: when things get back to normal, will recycling companies return to using a human workforce, or will they retain their cheaper, more efficient machines?

Recycling Under Unusual Circumstances

March bore witness to the closures of most recycling facilities in the UK. All Household Waste and Recycling Centers (HWRCs) shuttered, which took care of the majority of citizens’ recycling needs.

A similar thing happened in America: recycling centers in high infection areas closed to reduce the spread of Covid-19, as thousands of people were frequenting these tight quarters every week.

Now, with everyone stuck at home, there’s even more trash to be sifted and fewer employees to do it. The solution: robots.

Meet the Robots

AMP Robotics has been fielding calls from recycling facilities needing not just one or two of their robots, but several.

The company’s dual-robot recycling system sorts, picks, and places a wide variety of material via artificial intelligence.

This system can make 160 picks in a minute. Another recycling robot is ReconRobotics’ “smart gripper”, which can pick and separate 2,000 items in an hour. To put this in perspective, a human worker can make 800 picks in an hour, or just over 13 per minute.

While robots are doing a lot of the recycling jobs, they can’t do them all.

Scrap metal pickup is still an essential service, particularly for businesses still trading, such as electricians, construction firms, and machinist shops who accumulate large quantities of unneeded metal.

What Happens to the People?

Although employers in the recycling industry stress that automated machinery will not replace human workers, marketing experts disagree. A new paradigm of social distancing is being set that may outlast the pandemic.

Robots, along with replacing recycling workers, can enable the few that remain to work farther from one another. Therefore, some human jobs will remain, but, as marketing analyst Mark Muro says, “You may see fewer workers when the recovery does come.”

With humans in lockdown, robots are taking over certain jobs, especially those in the recycling industry.

When these emergency measures are lifted, it’s unlikely that recycling companies will go back to less efficient and more expensive human workers. Robotic recycling is the future that we can’t help but let happen.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Skype
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Pocket

You might also like…

Filed Under: Features, Industry Tagged With: human, recycling, robots, workers

Join the Robotics & Automation News community

Reader Interactions

You must log in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest articles

  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
  • Berkshire Grey launches new mobile robotic platform
  • Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot
  • What to Find When Looking for a Job as an Entry-Level Developer

Most Read

  • Track your lost Android
    Track your lost Android
  • Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
    Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
  • Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
    Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
  • Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
    Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
  • Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?
    Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?
  • The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
    The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
  • Top 25 vertical farming companies
    Top 25 vertical farming companies
  • Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
    Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
  • What You Need to Know About Fixing an Engine Misfire
    What You Need to Know About Fixing an Engine Misfire
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
    Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI

Overused words

abb ai applications automated automation automotive autonomous business china companies company control customers data design development digital electric global industrial industry logistics machine manufacturing market mobile platform process production robot robotic robotics robots safety software solution solutions system systems technologies technology time vehicle vehicles warehouse

Secondary Sidebar

Latest news

  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
  • Berkshire Grey launches new mobile robotic platform
  • Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot
  • What to Find When Looking for a Job as an Entry-Level Developer

Footer

We are…

Robotics and Automation News was established in May, 2015, and is now one of the most widely-read websites in its category.

Please consider supporting us by becoming a paying subscriber, or through advertising and sponsorships, or by purchasing products and services through our shop – or a combination of all of the above.

Thank you.

Independent

Archivists

April 2020
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  
« Mar   May »

Complex

Old-skool

This website and its associated magazine, and weekly newsletter, are all produced by a small team of experienced journalists and media professionals.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to contact us at any of the email addresses on our contact page.

We’d be happy to hear from you, and will always reply as soon as possible.

Future-facing

Free, fair and legal

We support the principles of net neutrality and equal opportunities.

Member of The Internet Defense League

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT