The Fourth Industrial Revolution has introduced advanced technologies such as data analytics, augmented reality, and seamless connectivity, which augment and empower human operators. In smart factories, these technologies work hand in hand with highly skilled operators to increase productivity and manage the plant in real-time.

Digital transformation is all about connectivity and collaboration. The integration of products, machines, and people, along with collaboration across the entire industrial value chain, are essential enablers of digitization.

Robots in manufacturing represent a great opportunity to improve energy and resource consumption, from electronics to the agri-food sector, potential applications of robotics that will help accelerate the transition to the circular economy

Robotics offers industrial process optimization, energy efficiency, and cleaner mobility solutions. And it is expanding into the field of manufacturing and waste management.

Among the main effects with which robotics has impacted the circular economy are:

30% reduction in e-waste generation.

25% increase in the reuse of components: The precision of integrated robotics allows for greater recovery of reusable components.

Efficiency in the disassembly process: Robots can disassemble devices up to 40% faster than traditional methods.

According to circular economy expert Guadalupe García, automation is driving the use of robots in more and more applications, improving performance, increasing product life, and reducing waste. Applied to recycling, robots can distinguish among hundreds of waste products and recover those that are recyclable or valuable.

RoCycle, IRBIN, and Daisy are some of the assistants that have arrived from the technological present to help us with the circular economy. IRBin is an interactive recycling container that talks to the user to indicate where each waste item goes; RoCycle, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has advanced sensors to identify the material of which the objects that pass through a mechanical belt are made and thus optimize the separation phase; and Daisy, developed by Apple, is designed to open electronic devices.

Each of these tools that integrate robotics and recycling is designed for a different moment in the process. There are those specialized in sorting, which use sensors and cameras to identify and separate recyclable materials, such as RoCycle, in waste collection, such as IRBin, and in the disassembly of electronic products, such as Daisy.

This is the case of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). Worldwide, more than 50 million tons of this waste are produced each year, of which only 20% is recycled. According to the United Nations (UN), this type of waste will exceed 74 million tons by 2030.

In these cases, industrial robotics becomes essential in recycling, not only for precision and optimization, but also for the sake of the workers: the added chemicals that are handled during disassembly are released into the environment and are very harmful to human health.

So, in order to recover 90% of the materials contained in cell phones that, according to Recyclia, are reusable, technology such as that of Daisy, the Apple robot mentioned at the beginning, is needed. Its specific design makes it possible to extract aluminum, cobalt or lithium from the company's cell phones, with the capacity to dismantle 200 iPhones per hour: one phone every 20 seconds.

The incorporation of industrial robotics in recycling is not just a futuristic promise, but a palpable reality that is transforming our ability to manage waste sustainably and efficiently. This technological advance allows us to more accurately address the environmental challenges of our time, significantly improving recycling rates and contributing to the preservation of natural resources.

Sources: 

Hablando en vidrio, “Robótica, la nueva R que se suma al reciclaje en la economía circular” november 20, 2024, accessed in: https://hablandoenvidrio.com/robotica-reciclaje/

Mexico Industry, “La revolución de la robótica integrada en la economía circular y la fabricación del futuro” september 27, 2024, accessed in:

https://mexicoindustry.com/noticia/la-revolucion-de-la-robotica-integrada-en-la-economia-circular-y-la-fabricacion-del-futuro

The Food Tech, “Robótica: aliada de la economía circular” february, 28 2023, accessed in: https://thefoodtech.com/seguridad-alimentaria/robotica-aliada-de-la-economia-circular/