Application of AI and Machine Vision to improve battery detection and recovery in E-Waste Management

The global economy is at a transition point, moving from the traditional “make, use and discard” linear manufacturing model to a more sustainable and reusable solution that is the Circular Economy. Transitioning the electronics waste recycling industry to greater resource efficiency, re-use and circularity is championed by “closing the loop” on End-of-Life (EOL) products, recycling and re-using them as raw materials to remanufacture new products. The re-use and recycling of batteries and power packs (the lifeblood of electronic devices) from powered appliances is critical in this regard. Batteries are one of the richest sources of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) for waste electronic recycling plants. Solutions to address this shortcoming are limited. This article proposes the RoboCRM system to address this - an automated system for battery detection which allows recyclers to close the loop on battery recovery and resource efficiency by easily identifying and sorting E-waste (Electronic waste) containing batteries from the primary waste stream. RoboCRM uses non-destructive detection methods (such as computer vision systems) in conjunction with pattern recognition and an artificial intelligence engine to achieve this. Once identified and categorised, these battery-powered appliances can be processed to support greater recovery of raw materials and CRMs. This will help close the loop on this aspect of the E-waste stream. As a result, the E-waste recycling industry will be able to integrate circular economy principles, resource recovery and re-use into their existing models in a seamless way, creating new jobs in the industry and producing a highly skilled circular economy workforce. The RoboCRM integrates computer vision and imaging solutions with robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, in order to create a breakthrough system which will become indispensable for the global recycling industry.