Image provided by CP Group
Nashville, Tennessee-based MSS, a division of CP Group that offers optical sorting and artificial intelligence (AI) equipment to the recycling and waste sector, has appointed Patrick Nicol as director of technology.
According to San Diego-based CP Group, Nicol has had an interest in recycling since observing his home town’s “pioneering recycling efforts” as a youth. “With a background in engineering, he saw an opportunity to be part of something bigger and immediately seized the chance to work in the recycling business,” the equipment company says.
CP Group says Nicol sees an ongoing need for continuous improvement in material recovery facility (MRF) system design, specifically in automation. He predicts ongoing progress through the integration of near infrared (NIR) optical sorters and AI vision systems, with such technology playing “a pivotal role in making recycling systems more intelligent and efficient while removing the dependency on manual sorting.”
“AI is a powerful tool with untapped potential, [and] we eagerly anticipate the transformative impact it will have on recycling systems," Nicol says of the MSS partnership with United Kingdom-based Recycleye.
Nicol also points to the benefits of CP Group’s Auger Screen, replaces the presort process to a postscreen quality control station and enhances safety by removing needles and sharps from the stream that manual sorters encounter.
Regarding his new role at MSS, Nicol says he is enthusiastic about implementing the AI platform and improving the maintenance friendliness of the company’s state-of-the-art optical sorters.
“The recycling business is here to stay; this is just the right thing to do,” Nicol says of his career choice. “In fact, we are now widening the spectrum of recycling by including municipal solid waste streams as energy supply. Our new equipment technology can target good recyclables in a stream we couldn’t even think of touching before.”
CP Group says that with the hiring of Nico, MSS “is poised to embark on an exciting journey of AI-driven innovations and advancements. With Nicol’s expertise and CP Group’s dedication to innovation, the company is poised to shape the future of recycling.”