KORN Recycling relies on innovative technology from WeSort.AI for fire prevention
Albstadt, Germany - KORN Recycling, a leading medium-sized recycling company based in Albstadt, has invested in ground-breaking technology to improve safety and prevent fires at its commercial waste sorting facility. The recent investment in the installation of the 'BatterySort' system, developed by WeSort.AI, marks a crucial step in the prevention of fires caused by hazardous materials such as lithium-ion batteries, a growing and dangerous problem across the recycling industry.
The collaboration with WeSort.AI, a specialist in AI-supported safety and sorting solutions for waste sorting systems, emphasises KORN Recycling's commitment to advanced and sustainable recycling processes. The innovative "BatterySort" system uses advanced X-ray transmission technology and a specially developed deep learning algorithm to precisely identify contaminants such as batteries and rechargeable batteries in waste layers up to a depth of 50 cm.
"Our plant has already experienced several fires in the past, mostly caused by incorrectly disposed lithium-ion batteries. With 'BatterySort' from WeSort.AI, we can now recognise potential sources of danger at an early stage and sort them out before they lead to a fire," explains Alexander Korn, Managing Director of KORN Recycling. The system not only ensures increased protection against fires, but also enables the recovery of valuable materials such as lithium, precious metals and rare earths from batteries and electrical appliances.
The current recognition accuracy of the system is over 85 per cent, with the aim of achieving an accuracy of up to 95 per cent through continuous improvements and extensions to the data set. "Our AI and data sets are constantly being further developed. Thanks to the novel self-learning deep learning algorithm, we are significantly reducing the annotation effort and making deep learning useful for this application for the first time," adds Nathanael Laier, Managing Director of WeSort.AI.
The recognised batteries and other impurities are blown out of the waste layer by powerful air pressure nozzles and fed onto a conveyor belt, which transports them into fireproof containers. There they are sorted by hand for further treatment, which also helps to protect the environment and conserve resources.
The investment in the project demonstrates KORN Recycling's pioneering role in the field of safe and environmentally friendly recycling. Together with WeSort.AI, the company is setting new standards in waste management and demonstrating how the use of state-of-the-art technology enables a safe and efficient recycling process.
