Food processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pak has financed and installed artificial intelligence (AI)-powered optical sorting technology at Levenseat Resource Management’s materials recycling facility in central Scotland, marking the first deployment of the system in the country.
The QuantiSort solution from from British start-up Recycleye uses AI and cameras to detect beverage cartons within mixed material streams, with pneumatic valves ejecting identified items so they can be sent for recycling.
Tetra Pak said the upgrade will improve carton sorting for households across Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumbartonshire.
The installation is the final phase of Tetra Pak’s three-part 2025 investment programme to enhance UK carton sorting.
Earlier this year J&B Recycling in Hartlepool received two robotic sorting arms from Recycleye and Cumbria Waste Management in Carlisle became the first UK site to adopt QuantiSort, following pilots in Spain.
Tetra Pak said the UK programme sits within its global annual commitment of more than £34m to expand carton collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure. Of this, £2.4m has been ringfenced for UK sorting projects.
Awantika Chadha, sustainability manager at Tetra Pak UK, said the deployment shows “the power that investment in cutting-edge AI technology holds when it comes to improving the UK’s recycling infrastructure”, adding that the Levenseat approach could be “a blueprint for the future of food and beverage carton sorting capabilities both in Scotland and across the UK”.
Levenseat Resource Management CEO Angus Hamilton said strengthening carton sorting capability would “provide even greater value to the local authorities and communities we serve”.
The timing aligns with work under Scotland’s Circular Economy Act, with Tetra Pak engaging the Scottish government on including cartons in the updated Code of Practice for local authorities.
The company said this mirrors its support for England’s Simpler Recycling reforms, which aim to standardise collections and are expected to increase kerbside carton volumes, making effective sorting infrastructure more critical.
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