The EU-funded RECLAIM project aimed to develop low-cost, portable, easy to install and highly productive 'portable robotic Material Recovery Facilities' (prMRF), which will enable full material recovery anywhere, even in the most remote areas. 

prMRF is expected to have a key role in developing a global, leakage-free circular economy and model benefiting businesses, society and the environment. The project set out to exploit mature and tested AI-driven robotic waste management technology, improving and embedding it in a state of the art portable waste management tool that will significantly enhance local-scale material recovery activities by providing them with industrial-level efficiency.

As its first real-world test, the project deployed the world's first AI-powered portable material recovery plant in the island of Kefalonia in Greece, bringing on-site waste sorting to European islands and remote destinations. This robotic facility is small enough to fit inside a shipping container and is now helping communities to recover valuable materials locally for recycling. 

Kefalonia was not chosen at random: during peak tourist season, average monthly waste generation increases by at least 60%, a major challenge for local waste management capabilities. It's a problem encountered in plenty of remote areas, and this facility is a good answer. It can be deployed quickly in remote areas or alongside existing recycling plants in tourist-heavy island destinations, bringing close-to-source material recovery of recyclables.

This flexibility has the potential to unlock new opportunities for recovering materials, thereby promoting a local circular economy for plastics.