This fall, a new Waste Identification Testbed is being launched in Southern Sweden aiming to accelerate the recycling of industrial waste. With the help of sensors and advanced robotics, the ability to identify and sort materials in industrial waste will be improved, increasing the reuse of materials and accelerating the transition to a circular economy. The Southern Swedish organisations behind the initative include: Mobile Heights, Innovation Skåne, Invest in Skåne, Norrvidinge and OP Teknik. The initiative is also made possible in part by a grant from Microsoft.
– With wide-ranging knowledge in IT and sensor technology, Skåne has unique conditions for developing this test bed. We are now looking for more companies and researchers who can participate and contribute, says Ola Svedin, CEO of Mobile Heights, the organisation leading the project consortium.
The test bed for identification of waste materials is an open platform where companies and researchers can test, compare, and evaluate different types of sensors for identification of reusable materials in a real- world setting. The test bed is located at one of Norrvidinge’s environmental facilities and the tests are performed with the help of OP Teknik's sorting robot. The goal is for new innovations in waste management to be implemented and shared widely throughout the industry.
– We welcome this type of technology to the recycling industry where identification of materials has been one of the challenges in sorting industrial waste, says Alfred Kulle, Business Area Manager Recycling at Norrvidinge.
The project is made possible through a collaboration between several organizations and companies in Southern Sweden with the support of a grant of 45,000 USD from the Microsoft Datacenter Community Development team’s Community Environmental Sustainability program. In close collaboration with Invest in Skåne, Microsoft is continuously evaluating regional collaboration projects near Staffanstorp, where the company is building a datacenter.
– Microsoft is committed to reducing waste and improving environmental sustainability in the Skåne region and throughout the world. Our objective is to help datacenter communities achieve their environmental goals and ambitions, and we believe this tech-led approach will help reduce the waste sent to landfills and lead to a more circular economy, says Holly Beale, Microsoft Program Manager for Community Environmental Sustainability.
For more information, please contact:
Anna Wilkens, Innovation Skåne
+46 729 752 620
Participating organisations:
Mobile Heights
Mobile Heights is the project owner and leads the project consortium. Mobile Heights is a member-funded, non-profit cluster organization that connects business, academia and the public sector to create growth for a digital future society.
Innovation Skåne
Innovation Skåne is the project manager. Innovation Skåne is Region Skåne's innovation company. Together with Region Skåne, business, academia and other actors, the company identifies and develops new opportunities for innovation and growth that strengthen the innovation capacity in Skåne.
Invest in Skåne
Invest in Skåne is the official trade and investment promotion agency for the southernmost part of Sweden, Skåne. We help international companies invest and expand in the region, and local companies find international partnerships and grow global sales.
Microsoft
Microsoft’s participation in the project is lead by the Microsoft Datacenter Community Development team, which supports community-led and prioritized projects that deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits to communities that host Microsoft datacenters. Norrvidinge Norrvidinge is a leading company within transport and machine services as well as construction materials and recycling in southern Sweden.
OP Teknik
OP Teknik develops and manufactures automated sorting robots and industrial automation projects.