BELGIUM – TOMRA, a leading provider of collection and sorting solutions, has acquired a 25 percent stake in PolyPerception, an innovative start-up specializing in AI-based waste flow monitoring.
TOMRA initiated collaboration with PolyPerception in December 2022, and this investment marks another stride in TOMRA’s endeavor to revolutionize resource recovery through cutting-edge technology.
Dr. Volker Rehrmann, Head of TOMRA Recycling, elucidated, “By expanding our partnership with PolyPerception, we can amalgamate our state-of-the-art material sorting systems and cloud-based monitoring solution with the company’s pioneering material analysis.
“This synergy empowers us to optimize the entire process and material flow, providing a significant advantage to our clientele. Moreover, it enables us to leverage PolyPerception’s expertise in data and AI for ongoing enhancements to our machinery.”
PolyPerception delivers a waste analysis solution tailored for PET recyclers and sorting plants. By gathering data at pivotal junctures in the sorting process, the company aids sorting facility operators in continuously evaluating the quality of sorted streams and the loss of valuable material in the residual stream, facilitating data-driven decision-making.
Additionally, it serves as an automated compliance system, ensuring adherence to rigorous regulations governing food-grade recycling and local legislation.
With regulatory standards increasingly stringent, PolyPerception anticipates burgeoning demand for its transformative technology in the market.
Nicolas Braem, co-founder and CEO of PolyPerception, expressed, “We are thrilled to fortify our alliance with TOMRA as a pivotal strategic partner and distributor.
“Leveraging TOMRA’s dominant market position and extensive industry expertise, we can expedite the advancement of our technology and garner heightened market visibility to accelerate commercialization.
“Furthermore, we are eager to explore further collaborative avenues to propel our mission of automating sorting processes at an accelerated pace. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement!”
For TOMRA, AI and data have long been integral to the company’s research and development endeavors and product portfolio, with specific applications encompassing machine learning, recognition, and infrastructure.
In 2019, the company introduced the industry’s maiden deep learning technology for waste sorting, which combines deep learning technology with TOMRA’s established sensors, enabling the sorting of challenging-to-classify materials, such as the extraction of PE silicone cartridges from polyethylene (PE) streams.
Subsequently, TOMRA has continued to invest in the evolution of deep learning, a subset of AI and machine learning. A groundbreaking application for wood chip classification ensued in 2022.
Rehrmann affirmed, “We are confident that AI, in conjunction with the prowess of our well-established sensors, will significantly augment material circularity.
“Our in-house development teams are operating at full throttle, and you can expect further revelations from TOMRA in this realm in the first half of 2024!”
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