Robots powered by artificial intelligence are making recycling more efficient in the Denver metro. The Republic Services Denver recycling facility receives roughly 500 tons of material a day, coming in from Denver, metro area cities like Golden, Superior, Arvada, Lafayette and Louisville, and from mountain communities as far as Vail and Steamboat Springs.
General manager Steve Derus said the facility has already been using robots to sort material on conveyor belts for years, but the technology is getting better. New robots from the company Glacier use cameras and AI to better track and pick out certain types of material.
Robotic arms move quickly to suction pieces on the belt, pick them and drop them into a chute, before continuing again. Derus said they can handle 60-70 pick-ups per minute, while a human sorter can only do 40-50 in that time.