Page 55 from: Recycling International November/December issue | 2022
TRENDS & UPDATES
55recyclinginternational.com | November/December | 2022
WALES MOVES ON POLYSTYRENE
PACKAGING
Wales is planning to outlaw polystyrene fast-food
containers and cups in the latest package of legis-
lation to tackle single use plastic products.
In 2011, Wales was one of the first countries in the
world to introduce a charge for single-use carrier
bags, and it is currently ranked as the world’s third
best domestic recycler.
Now, it is set to become the first part of the UK to
legislate against such a comprehensive list of single-
use plastics. The legislation will make it an offence
to supply or offer to supply littered and unnecessary
disposable single-use plastic products to consumers
in Wales.
It provides local authorities with powers to enforce
the offence, and includes:
• cutlery
• plates
• stirrers
• drinking straws – this product has an exemption
for health needs
• plastic stemmed cotton buds
• balloon sticks
• expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene fast-
food containers
• expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene cups
• polystyrene lids for all cups and fast-food contain-
ers
• thin plastic single-use carrier bags
• all products made of oxo-degradable plastic
The decision to include these products follows a
consultation in 2020, with all having non-plastic or
reusable alternatives. Ministers will also have the
power to add or remove products.
INVESTMENT BOOSTS AMP’S ROBOTICS SORTING FLEET
Sorting technology specialist AMP Robotics has raised US$ 91 million
(EUR 92.1 million) in corporate equity to help expansion plans which
includes a fleet of 275 robots around the world.
This new round of funding
from investors including
Congruent Ventures and Blue
Earth Capital follows a US$ 55
million investment in January
2021. Other priorities are
enhancing AMP’s ongoing
development of AI-enabled
automation applications for
recycling such as AMP Vortex, the company’s latest innovation for recovery of
film and flexible packaging.
Demand for robotics to retrofit existing recycling infrastructure ‘continues to
thrive’, according to AMP. This is in large part due to ambitious recycled con-
tent targets announced in the consumer packaging sector for 2025.
‘Our focus from the outset has been our application of AI-powered automa-
tion to economically and sustainably improve our global recycling system,’
says Matanya Horowitz, founder and ceo of AMP Robotics. ‘We’ve been fortu-
nate to attract a passionate team, loyal customers, and visionary investors
along the way. With this new funding, we’ll accelerate our efforts to moder-
nise and expand our recycling infrastructure, aiding society’s path to a circular
economy.’
Horwitz cites market data marking landfilled plastics as ‘significant losses’ to
the US economy, with an untapped value of around US$ 7.2 billion. The recov-
ery of plastic packaging and food packaging alone is said to be worth
between US$ 2 and US$ 4 billion per year.
He points out that his company’s AI platform, AMP Neuron, has recognised
more than 50 billion objects in operational conditions. ‘This makes it the larg-
est known dataset of recyclable materials for machine learning.’
‘AMP’s technology is rewriting the economics of recycling, marrying purpose
with profit for our recycling partners,’ adds Abe Yokell, co-founder and man-
aging partner of investor Congruent Ventures. ‘It is a privilege to be able to
support such a mission-driven team as they have grown from an eight-person
operation to an industry leader.’
LINDEMANN CELEBRATES RESTORED INDEPENDENCE
After more than 20 years as part of the Finnish Metso group, Germany’s metal recycling specialist Lindemann is again operat-
ing as independent entity from its Düsseldorf base.
Last year, Swedish investor Mimir acquired the unit, which is now operating under the name Lindemann Metal Recycling Solutions.
Lindemann ceo Ioannis Giouvanitskas says: ‘Mimir has all the necessary resources to support Lindemann in expanding its leading posi-
tion in the market in the medium term; a great opportunity for lifting the company to the next level and to return its focus to the core
values of the founder Waldemar Lindemann: quality, performance and innovation.’
Giouvanitskas confirms that all functional departments, administration and the service centre will continue to operate from the
Düsseldorf HQ with a large part of machine production taking place within 150km of the city. ‘The connections to our international
sites are simply ideal from here. Lindemann currently has 180 employees at 14 locations worldwide.’
Lindemann believes global demand for steel will continue to rise in the medium term and demand for secondary raw materials like
steel and scrap metal will also increase significantly. Due to increasingly strict environmental regulations globally, production in many
countries is being switched to more energy-efficient processes such as electric arc furnaces which can utilise up to 100% steel scrap.
Giouvanitskas sees the company as a full-solution provider for the global metal recycling market in the medium term. ‘We want to
invest even more in new technologies, drive digitalisation forward and increasingly take on environmental issues such as the reduction
of emission values through state-of-the-art de-dusting systems.’
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