AI powered waste sorting company Recycleye has been acquired by US based CP Group, a global leader in material recovery facilities and automated sorting technologies. Founded in London in 2019, Recycleye has rapidly grown into a leading European provider of AI driven robotic waste picking solutions.
The company combines proprietary AI vision technology with FANUC industrial robots to automate the detection and sorting of mixed recyclables. Its partnership with FANUC has played a key role in scaling its offering and reducing market risk, with the collaboration recognised in 2024 through a Global Partner Award for Innovation.
The announcement that San Diego-based CP Group has acquired a majority stake in Recycleye significantly expands CP Group’s AI-driven sorting capabilities while further enabling MRF operators to increase recovery, improve purity and generate valuable operational data.
“The combined organisation accelerates AI-enabled sorting and plant control across the full MRF, delivering the performance and purity levels that define the next generation of material recovery,” said Terry Schneider, CP Group CEO. “The applications for AI-based capabilities are significant in MRF systems, and the Recycleye team will enable us to bring powerful new capabilities to the industry in the months ahead.”
Recycleye’s offering combines FANUC’s 6-axis LR Mate robots and iRPickTool visual line tracking technology with its own AI-driven vision system. The Recycleye Robotics solution increases sorting accuracy by up to 12% and improves line output by up to 10%, helping waste operators to boost their bottom line and providing a solution to ongoing labour shortages in the waste management industry. FANUC has supported Recycleye through a commercial and technical partnership since its early days as a startup through to its position today as part of the internationally renowned CP Group.
“This announcement represents a major milestone in Recycleye’s journey, and we are proud to have supported them in creating a product that fits the needs of European and US markets,” said Oliver Selby, Head of Sales for FANUC UK. “Recycleye was our first experience of working with a VC-funded startup. Since then, we have gone on to form strong technical partnerships with a number of venture capital firms, helping both ourselves and those VCs to reduce risk, whilst supporting new entrants into the market. We look forward to seeing what this next chapter will bring for Recycleye, and for the wider recycling sector.”
