EverestLabs robots to be added in California

Alameda County Industries (ACI) has expanded its use of EverestLabs robots in its materials recovery facility (MRF) in San Leandro, California.

ACI, which provides collection services of recyclables, organics and garbage for residential, commercial, and industrial customers in parts of that county, had an initial installation of sorting robots in July of last year.

Fremont, California-based EverestLabs says additional robotic units at ACI are scheduled for installation by the third quarter of this year. The robot provider says its units can “increase the operational efficacy of the plant by performing quality control tasks with 99 percent uptime, high artificial intelligence (AI) accuracy of 95 percent-plus and [an] efficacy rate of over 90 percent.”

“The EverestLabs robots are proving to be a useful technology,” says Chris Valbusa, general manager of the ACI San Leandro plant. “As a result, it allows us to position our personnel into higher-priority positions in our plant. It is a win for our team members and plant safety and efficiency.”

EverestLabs founder and CEO JD Ambati comments, “We truly appreciate that commitment of Alameda County Industries, led by plant general manager and partner Chris Valbusa. They are truly committed to continuous improvement in material recovery facilities and are a model to be respected and replicated.”

Separately, EverestLabs robots have replaced human sorters alleviating labor shortage issues in some of other large MRFs in the U.S., the company says.

An advantage of the company’s robots is their small footprint, which can expand the number of viable spaces for installing robots in a MRF, including incline conveyor lines, says EverestLabs.