Sonoco, a global packaging solutions leader, partnered with AMP Robotics to create a new material category within AMP’s neural network specific to rigid paper containers.
Sonoco is a global packaging solutions leader headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. The company provides diversified consumer and healthcare packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and packaging supply chain services and is the world's largest producer of rigid paper cans, tubes, and cores. Together, Sonoco and AMP created a new material category within AMP’s neural network specific to rigid paper containers.
Impetus: Enhance recovery for unique packaging format
Thanks to its long history in the packaging industry, Sonoco recognized there’s a great deal of material that’s misunderstood, or not collected due to a lack of understanding. The company has taken a deliberate, focused approach to increase recovery of its packaging. This approach led Sonoco to partner with AMP Robotics to help improve collection and sortation of a particular packaging type that’s highly recyclable: rigid paper containers. These are items like coffee, nut, and snack containers; refrigerated dough; and powdered infant formula.
Sonoco sought a solution for the sortation of rigid paper containers applicable to a variety of MRF configurations. It was important to identify a technology solution that materials recovery facilities (MRFs) could drop into their existing operations.