A lot has been said and done in RECLAIM. And as we wrap up the RECLAIM project, these cards highlight the work done by the consortium.
In principle, at the end of this month, the EU-funded RECLAIM will draw the curtains on the three-year long project.
Though in practice, it is hardly the end, as we are exploring investment opportunities for the whole prMRF but also its individual innovations.
The prMRF commercialisation efforts will adopt a hybrid approach to include not only the integrated prMRF system itself but also individual innovations, such as the bi-modal (RGB + HSI) waste classification technology and the low-cost robotic waste sorters (RoReWos).
Looking back at the 3 years gone by, it’s hard to imagine how the consortium powered through a post-Covid phase, when the world’s economy had just started to crawl back on its feet and Covid restrictions were lifted in Europe. However, the situation wasn’t completely back to normal. Remote working with very little human contact was still the norm. It was around this time that the RECLAIM project was envisioned in 2022. Under these challenging circumstances, the consortium chipped in their ideas on the drawing board and worked through meetings to ensure work wasn’t affected.
Finally, we can say, we have done it: the consortium has delivered the low cost, portable, easy to install and increased productivity prMRF, which will now enable the construction of high-tech distributed waste treatment prMRF-fleets for full material recovery anywhere, even in the most remote areas.
This vision is now a reality in Kefalonia, Greece!
Every summer, the Ionian Islands of Greece welcome thousands of tourists—but also face a surge of waste that’s costly to transport to the mainland for material recovery. Despite this, the fluctuating waste volumes do not justify investments in standard Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). As a result, collected recyclables are transported to distant mainland facilities for processing.
This involves higher waste compression to decrease pickup frequency and hinders the effective recovery of recyclable materials. Moreover, the residual waste must be either landfilled or incinerated with significant environmental costs.
That’s why the EU-funded RECLAIM project has deployed the world’s first portable, AI-powered robotic Material Recovery Facility (prMRF) in Kefalonia.
By enabling on-site sorting of fresh, high-quality waste, the prMRF reduces costly transport, prevents valuable recyclables from ending up in landfills, and sets a new standard for decentralised, close-to-source recycling—not just for islands, but for remote regions everywhere.
To bid adieu to the project, we curated our last press release highlighting the prMRF’s innovations.