Norwegian company TOMRA are rolling out their Automated Recycling Centres (ARCs) around the world.
According to TOMRA, their machines are able to recognise and sort different materials, such as bottles and cans, and efficiently condense them in size.
The state-of-the art ARC is based on cutting-edge material recognition technology. Objects made of plastics, metals, glass and other types of packaging are recognised with almost 100% accuracy as they are inserted into the user station. After the objects have been identified, they are sorted and crushed into separate storage bins.
Usually based at supermarkets, they can also provide incentives such as giveaways, product discount coupons and even the possibility of donating to charity.
Around 1500 supermarkets in Sweden, Norway and Holland give their customers, through the ARCs, the opportunity to donate their refund for scrap to worthwhile causes.
TOMRA claim that machines installed at Tesco supermarkets in the UK increased recycling by as much as 50 percent. Tesco ordered 100 machines initially.
Now Waste Management Incorporated, the largest provider of waste management services in the US will be running tests with 15 of TOMRA’s ARCs in three test markets until mid 2009.
TOMRA, who operate in over 50 markets, claim to have collected 30 thousand million used bottles and cans, equivalent to about 3% of the world’s annual consumption.
If you have used one of these ARCs please let me know.
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