Magazine

ReWaste F: Intelligent waste treatment of the future

The four-year research program ReWaste F was launched in 2021 under the direction of the Chair of Waste Processing Technology and Waste Management at the University of Leoben.

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The EU is pursuing the goal of achieving widespread transformation toward a circular economy. This includes, in particular, increased recycling of materials from municipal and packaging waste. This should lead to far better use of resources, including recycling, and thus also contribute directly and indirectly toward reducing climate damaging greenhouse gases such as CO2.

The ReWaste F research project is focused on how much sensors, digitization, networking, and artificial intelligence can improve the overall treatment processes for mixed material flows. The research work is led by a multi-disciplinary consortium of representatives from science and industry, including Komptech. Within the scope of this project, scientific work – in particular dissertations and master theses – will also focus on waste management and technology, which will further strengthen and give visibility to Austria’s pioneering role as a research and industrial location.

Better recycling rates thanks to digitization

The fundamental idea behind ReWaste F is to enable real-time communication between waste quality and plant, thus allowing the processing steps to be dynamically adapted to the targets. The data delivered via optical and physical sensors are networked and forwarded to process control. In the second development step, a waste treatment plant can self-optimize through machine learning. A requirement for this type of intelligent waste treatment – and the content of ReWaste F – is the creation of a comprehensive database.

As a technology expert, Komptech takes part in test series, both on a real and a laboratory scale, as well as simulations that record the impact of different influencing factors on the treatment process. The aim is to create a database that maps all the parameters for mechanical processing.

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Outlook

The waste treatment system of the future requires flexibility in terms of the structure of waste flows and greater, quality-assured technical capability (on an international scale) to recycle valuable secondary raw materials. Tools from Industry 4.0 provide the necessary basis for this.

As part of ReWaste F, new technology solutions are emerging from the interdisciplinary collaboration between science and practice. These solutions are available to our customers worldwide for the optimization of waste
treatment.

About the project

The four-year research program ReWaste F was launched in 2021 under the direction of the Chair of Waste Processing Technology and Waste Management at the University of Leoben. The program is implemented by a consortium of four scientific institutes and 14 companies including Komptech.

As part of the project, Christoph Feyerer, Director Product Management & Marketing at Komptech GmbH, is also preparing a dissertation. The total cost of EUR 4.85 million is being covered by funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the province of Styria, and the project partners involved.

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