Zanker Recycling to install ZenRobotics units in California

Helsinki-based ZenRobotics Ltd. and Plexus Recycling Technologies, Westminster, Colorado, have announced they will deliver robotic recycling systems to Zanker Recycling in San José, California.

The two ZenRobotics Recycler units and will be operational by fall 2018.

Zanker Recycling handles 2,600 tons of construction and demolition (C&D) debris daily, processed through three recycling systems. By adding a fourth processing line featuring ZenRobotics systems, Zanker Recycling will increase its recovery rate and processing capacity.

Michael Gross, director of sustainability at Zanker Recycling, says, “The ZenRobotics brain will control the plant to allow a very smooth-running operation automatically maximizing recovery, capacity and efficiency. The advantage of deploying AI (artificial intelligence) robotics to recycling differentiates Zanker from our competitors.”

ZenRobotics Recyclers will operate 20 hours per day with total system production at 150,000 tons per year. The robots will reduce the company’s cost of manual labor and will increase total daily operating hours. The two ZenRobotics Recyclers will be installed on the bulky material sort line. Each of the four arms will be picking objects weighing up to 60 pounds (30 kilograms).

“Robots are now proven technology and the growth potential on the U.S. market is substantial,” says Marcel Vallen, CEO of Plexus Recycling Technologies. “We expect that virtually all new plants will be based on robotic sorting, and existing plants will be upgraded with robots. Robots are the most dramatic paradigm change in the recycling industry for decades.”

Founded in 2007, ZenRobotics previously has delivered material sorting robots to sites in Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, Australia, China the Netherlands, Singapore, Finland France and the U.S.

San Jose-based Zanker Recycling, owned by Zanker Road Resource Management Ltd., is a privately owned solid waste and recycling company. Zanker operates four recycling facilities, diverting more than 80 percent of waste from landfills.

Plexus Recycling Technologies supplies a range of advanced waste processing technologies by ZenRobotics, Komptech, Matthiessen, Andritz and Waste Treatment Technologies (WTT) in the U.S. and Canada.