Innovative automatic sorting system of the construction and demolition waste materials

Abstract

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) generates nowadays important logistic, provision and environmental issues. Every year 3000 million of Tons are generated in Europe, out of which 25% - 30% is Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW). Construction, renovation, and demolition projects produce large amounts of CDW that is costly to dispose. Waste processing plants extract useful materials from unsorted waste to reduce recycling costs. However today the problem of automated sorting of CDW is only partially solved, with a large part of the existing activities performed manually and this can be very tricky for dangerous material like asbestos. So far, no sorting system has been developed able to detect the aggregate (containing also pieces of bricks, tiles and glass), which is then often not recovered, or used for applications with very low added value, such as fill material in road construction. The remaining waste is usually converted into refuse derived fuel and burned for energy. This article presents a novel system architecture for sorting Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) into high-purity, and small-size separated fractions for high-grade applications in the building industry. The method will be a “cutting-edge” technology for a modular robotic system to be easily integrated into customized end-user products. The architecture will be based upon technology for on-fly waste classification and will deliver a necessary technology demonstrator. The first result of the project is to obtain a highly automated and flexible process line for indexing and sorting CDW. Secondly, the system wants to achieve the application of vision sensors and the development of classification algorithms for fast identification and selection of CDW materials. The development of a novel grasping system for rapid CDW material handling and processing also represents a goal for the presented system. The proposed method can overcome environmental issues due to CDW, increasing the overall recycled material and maximize the technical and economic value of recycled materials and products.