Robots move in as waste firms struggle to find staff

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Robots move in as waste firms struggle to find staff Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google David Waddell Business Reporter Dusty and noisy - waste sorting is not an attractive occupation The dust at this busy recycling plant is pervasive and the steady noise of hoppers and conveyor belts makes this a challenging environment to work in. The facility in Rainham, east London is owned by Sharp Group, a family-run skip and waste management firm. Along the conveyor belts runs everything you could imagine, from shoes, to old VHS cassettes and blocks of concrete.

The team here processes up to 280,000 tonnes of mixed recycling every year with 24 agency workers on its rapid conveyor belts. This is a hazardous industry. While Sharp Group is proud of its safety record, work-related injury and ill-health in the sector is 45% higher than other industries.

The Details

And the fatality rate is a sizeable multiple of the national average. These factors, along with the unpleasant nature of the work, mean keeping workers is difficult. Annual staff turnover runs at 40%.

"The belt is moving all the time, you're constantly picking. I go through a lot of pickers because they just aren't up to the job," says line supervisor Ken Dordoy. The firm rotates pickers through different materials every 20 minutes, and I could see the belt is stopped periodically for respite.

Alpha is being trained to identify and sort waste A potential answer to that high-staff turnover, was also on the line when I visited. A robot, known as Alpha (Automated Litter Processing Humanoid Assistant) was being trained to pick through the rubbish. Built by RealMan Robotics in China, it's being adapted for real-world recycling operations by the British firm TeknTrash Robotics.

What Experts Say

Automated robots are not new to the sector, but the use of a humanoid is unusual. TeknTrash founder and CEO Al Costa argues that copying human movement allows his robot to fit into existing plants without redesigning the machinery. Alpha is not up to speed yet, instead, it's on a training agenda and being guided through arm movements.

Next to it, a plant worker wears a VR headset to record his own endeavours to demonstrate what successful picking and sorting looks like. The learning process is two-fold. The first is identifying what's on the conveyor and the second part is actually lifting up items.

Costa says this is exactly what early-stage training looks like. "The market thinks these robots are prêt‑à‑porter, that all you need to do is to plug them to the mains and they will work flawlessly. But they need extensive data in order to be effectively useful.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.