TOMRA further strengthens its position in AI with a 25% stake in waste analysis start-up PolyPerception
Leading sorting solutions provider, TOMRA, and pioneering waste analysis start-up, PolyPerception, broaden their strategic AI alliance.
Leading collection and sorting solutions provider, TOMRA, has further strengthened its position in the field of artificial intelligence by acquiring a 25% stake in PolyPerception, a pioneering start-up offering AI-based waste flow monitoring.
TOMRA’s collaboration with PolyPerception began in December 2022, and this investment in the company is another step in TOMRA's journey to transform resource recovery with the latest technology.
Dr. Volker Rehrmann, Head of TOMRA Recycling, said: "By expanding our cooperation with PolyPerception, we can combine our advanced material sorting systems and cloud-based monitoring solution with the company's innovative material analysis. This synergy enables us to enhance the optimisation of the entire process and material flow, providing a significant advantage to our customers. Plus, it now allows us to harness PolyPerceptions' data and AI expertise for continued enhancements to our machinery."
Waste analysis for PET recyclers and sorting plants
PolyPerception offers a waste analysis solution for PET recyclers and sorting plants. By measuring data at key points in the sorting process, the company helps sorting facility operators to continuously assess the quality of sorted streams and the loss of good material in the residual stream, to enable data-driven decisions. It further functions as an automated compliance system, ensuring adherence to stringent regulations governing food-grade recycling and local legislation. With the regulatory landscape evolving towards greater stringency, PolyPerception anticipates growing demand in the market for its transformative technology.
Nicolas Braem, co-founder and CEO of PolyPerception, added: "We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with TOMRA as a key strategic ally and distributor. Thanks to TOMRA’s pole position in the market and extensive industry knowledge, we can accelerate the development of our technology and gain increased market visibility to speed up commercialisation. Additionally, we're enthusiastic about exploring additional collaborative opportunities to drive our mission of automating sorting processes even faster. It’s a win-win!"
AI and data at the heart of TOMRA
For TOMRA, AI and data have long been an integral part of the company's R&D activities and product portfolio, with specific applications within machine learning, recognition and infrastructure.
In 2019, the company introduced the industry's first deep learning technology for waste sorting. This innovation combines deep learning technology with TOMRA's traditional sensors, enabling the sorting of difficult-to-classify materials, such as the removal of PE silicon cartridges from polyethylene (PE) streams.
Since then, TOMRA has continued to invest in the development of deep learning, which is considered a subset of AI and machine learning. An application for wood chip classification followed in 2022. Rehrmann confirms: "We are convinced that AI – together with the power of our well-established sensors – will heavily boost material circularity. Our internal development teams are working at high speed, and you'll hear more from TOMRA in this regard in the first half of 2024!"
TOMRA Recycling Sorting
TOMRA Recycling Sorting designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting technologies for the global recycling and waste management industry to transform resource recovery and create value in waste.
The company was the first to develop advanced waste and metals sorting applications use high capacity near infrared (NIR) technology to extract the most value from resources and keep materials in a loop of use and reuse. To date, more than 9,000 systems have been installed in 100 countries worldwide.
TOMRA Recycling is a division of TOMRA Group. TOMRA was founded on an innovation in 1972 that began with the design, manufacturing and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers. Today, TOMRA is leading the resource revolution to transform how the planet’s resources are obtained, used and reused to enable a world without waste. The company’s other business divisions are TOMRA Food and TOMRA Collection.
TOMRA has approximately 105,000 installations in over 100 markets worldwide and had total revenues of about 12 billion NOK in 2022. The Group employs 5,000 globally and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company headquarters are in Asker, Norway.
For further information about TOMRA, visit www.tomra.com and follow TOMRA Recycling Sorting on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and on Instagram.