The company said it was investigating in other robotic systems which could use AI to physically pick out those bottles.<\/p>\n
It also uses AI for safety around the site, monitoring cameras and identifying “potential risks… for example, when someone appears to be moving into an area where a vehicle could be operating”.<\/p>\n
But McLeary said the plant remained reliant on its workforce despite the growing role of technology and that they still need people who are “prepared to do good, hard labour on the lines, sorting stuff very responsibly”.<\/p>\n
He added that the technology was allowing the recycling process to speed up.<\/p>\n
“[A] bottle that you threw away two weeks ago may be back in somebody else’s fridge, because that’s how quickly the material gets recycled in the UK,” McLeary said.<\/p>\n
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