Battery Solutions says it will acquire Refind Technologies’ battery sorting technology, making it the first US-based company to invest in automated sorting and data collection technology to manage waste batteries.
The system from Refind sorts up to 2,500 pounds of batteries per hour and will improve existing sorting capabilities currently used by Battery Solutions. The technology recognizes batteries by their visual characteristics and separates them by air ejectors at a speed of more than 10 batteries per second.
Currently, when received by Battery Solutions, the batteries must be sorted by chemistry before being recycled, which has been time consuming and expensive, the company says.
This technology investment increases efficiency and reduces costs while collecting detailed data about the batteries: information about brand, model, size, and age can be retrieved from every single battery. The company says the compiled data will give broader insight and knowledge into the multibillion-dollar US battery market. The two companies have agreed to work closely to further develop the applications for the information collected.
After installing Refind’s automated sorting system in 2012, UK waste battery collection and recycling company G & P Batteries doubled its capacity to handle non-lead acid batteries, the company announced last June.
