Rising gas prices have been in the news repeatedly since the Trump administration launched the war against Iran in late February, but gas prices are not the only thing affected by the conflict. About 10% of the world’s aluminum is produced in the Gulf region, pushing prices for the metal to levels not seen in decades.
Even before the Iran war, the U.S. government had warned that aluminum was a critical mineral. Much of the U.S. aluminum demand is met by imports, and much of the metal the country produces is recycled. For recycling startups, now is a good time to start business.
“Aluminum may be 1% of the waste stream, but it often trades for more than $1,000 per ton,” Matanya Horowitz, CTO of waste sorting startup Amp, told TechCrunch. “It actually ends up being one of the most important individual products.”
According to the EPA, aluminum is one of the most recycled materials in the United States, yet only about 20% is recovered. Waste sorting startups are touting AI as a way to improve this number.
Metal recycling startup Sortera recently opened its second facility in Tennessee, the company tells TechCrunch exclusively. The new plant will double the company’s processing capacity to 240 million pounds, of which 90% to 100% is aluminum. That’s a significant portion of the 4.3 million tons the United States used last year.
The Indiana-based startup focuses on sorting aluminum scrap. A variety of sensors, including lasers, cameras, and X-ray fluorescence, are used to feed into an AI algorithm that sorts each potato-chip-sized piece of scrap to identify its specific grade of aluminum. By separating grades with greater precision, Sortera can increase its profit per pound.
Amp took a different approach by using an AI-powered separation system to sift through both recycling and municipal waste streams.
The system uses sensors such as visible light and infrared cameras to identify everything from wrapping paper to foil and distinguish between plastic and aluminum. As the waste stream flows through the system on a conveyor belt, robotic arms and puffers pick or blow the material into separate bins. Amp says its system has more than 90% accuracy in recovering certain materials, including aluminum.
“Half of the aluminum in metropolitan areas with successful recycling programs just sits in the trash, never even touching the recycling system,” Horowitz said. For the metals industry, recycling facilities like those being built by Solterra and Amp could enhance the supply of critical minerals used throughout the economy.
“Projects of this type are some of the largest sources of domestically produced aluminum coming online that year,” he said.
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