Case study — Iren, Parma, Italy
Recovering beverage cartons from the paper stream
Iren’s ReCap plant sorts around 60,000 tonnes of household paper a year. To capture more beverage cartons from that stream, Iren fitted two Recycleye QualiBot® robots at the end of the fibre line — installed over a single weekend, with no significant production downtime.
The challenge
The ReCap plant, part of Iren’s integrated environmental hub in Parma, processes the combined household paper collection from across the Emilia region — everything citizens place in the blue bin — separating newspapers and graphic paper from cardboard.
Beverage cartons enter the plant through that same paper collection, and Iren needed to maximise their recovery from the stream. The constraint: the solution had to fit an operational plant with an established layout, and installation couldn’t interrupt production.
The solution
Recycleye fitted two QualiBot® sorting robots at the end of the fibre line. Because Recycleye’s AI recognises whole objects rather than relying on material signatures alone, it identifies items that other detection technologies struggle with — including black plastics and multi-material packaging like beverage cartons.
“Artificial intelligence isn’t magic — like any vision system, it has its limits. But when the material is well distributed on the conveyor, the recognition rate is very high. And the robot doesn’t tire and doesn’t get distracted — it guarantees consistent picking, and it supports the manual operators rather than replacing them.”
Installation was planned around production: Recycleye worked from Friday afternoon through the weekend, coordinating with Iren’s engineering department and the plant’s original equipment supplier.
“Recycleye arrived on site and worked almost completely autonomously. It was all resolved in one installation weekend, and it caused no significant production downtime.”
Life in operation
Paper is a demanding environment — at five to six tonnes an hour, dust is the critical factor. The QualiBots® were specified for simple upkeep that any line operator can handle: a straightforward on/off interface, daily checks, and cleaning of the suction cups. Training took a short session in the classroom and on the plant floor.
Recycleye handles AI model training continuously using samples from the plant, so recognition keeps improving without any burden on Iren’s team. An annual support package with spare parts held on site keeps line downtime to a minimum.
“The operators’ response has been positive — there’s been no rejection of the machines. Two things stood out about working with Recycleye: how hands-on the project team was, and their autonomy. Those are two real added values.”
Watch the case study
See what a QualiBot® could recover from your line
Start with a plant audit — we’ll check the conditions and show you the numbers.