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Hybrid Human-Robot RECYcling plant for electriCal and eLEctRonic equipment

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

Human-robot hybrid electrical and electronic equipment recycling

Advances in electrical and electronic technologies have led to a sharp increase in their production and waste. This has put pressure on the sector to find solutions for waste electrical and electronic equipment management. Unfortunately, despite the high interest, few solutions have been introduced, with current processes utilising dangerous, difficult to operate and expensive equipment and methods. With this in mind, the EU-funded HR-Recycler project will introduce a solution by developing a recycling plant run by a hybrid combination of humans and robots. This plant will exploit automated processes and equipment to decrease risks to operators, reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Objective

The technological advances that have been achieved over the past decades have led to a tremendous increase of both the types and the total amount of electrical and electronic equipment that is manufactured. Despite the importance of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management, the issue of the WEEE recycling has not received that increased industrial attention. HR-Recycler will target the development of a ‘hybrid human-robot recycling plant for electrical and electronic equipment’ operating in an indoor environment. The fundamental aim of the system (and its great innovation potential) will be to replace multiple currently manual, expensive, hazardous and time-consuming tasks of WEEE materials pre-processing with correspondingly automatic robotic-based procedures (categorization of electric/electronic devices, disassembling them, sorting of device components), before the materials are eventually provided as input to a fine shredding machine and conventional material separation steps are applied (using air/water flows, oscillating movements, magnets, etc.). More specifically, the overall goal of HR-Recycler is to create a hybrid collaboration environment, where humans and robots will harmoniously share and undertake at the same time different processing and manipulation tasks, targeting the industrial application case of WEEE recycling. The primary output of the envisaged system will be to extract sorted electric/electronic device components [e.g. Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), Cu coils, capacitors, etc.] and concentrated fractions (e.g. copper, aluminium, plastics, etc.) of increased economic and environmental value; hence, contributing to the fundamental goal of the ‘European circular economy’ project and boosting economic activity in secondary markets. Additionally, mixed fractions (i.e. fractions with low concentration in valuable materials) will be collected, in order to be sent to other facilities for further dedicated recycling process.

Fields of science

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Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

H2020-NMBP-TR-IND-2018-2020

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Sub call

H2020-NMBP-FOF-2018

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS
Net EU contribution
€ 1 334 375,00
Address
CHARILAOU THERMI ROAD 6 KM
57001 Thermi Thessaloniki
Greece

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Region
Βόρεια Ελλάδα Κεντρική Μακεδονία Θεσσαλονίκη
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 1 334 375,00

Participants (13)

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Last update: 30 April 2024

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/820742

European Union, 2024