MULTIPICK - Robotic solution for sorting metals from the dismantling of used vehicles and household appliances

The COMET Group has already managed to recycle 98.4% of a used vehicle, most of which is made of steel. Once recovered, the metals can then be reused in the metallurgical industry.
The remainder - around 25% - includes various non-ferrous metals (copper, zinc, stainless steel, brass, aluminum), which are valuable and need to be sorted.

Until now, this sorting was carried out manually in Asia. This involved transporting the raw materials out of Europe, and represented a loss for the circular economy.
Thanks to Multipick, in future the COMET Group will be able to retain and manage this flow of metals itself. From 2021, the Multipick installation at the COMET Traitements site (Obourg) will take over the sorting of non-ferrous metals with maximum efficiency.

Multipick uses a variety of technologies for sorting:

• X-rays to measure material density.

• A 3D scanner to measure the shape and volume of shredded objects.

• A hyper-spectral camera to identify the color of materials.

These technologies enable Multipick to sort the different metals. The data recorded on these different materials constitutes a continuous record of information, enabling an automatic learning process to be carried out through the use of artificial intelligence. Sixteen sorting robots operate on this basis. Multipick will also create 15 additional jobs at COMET Traitements. To this end, COMET Traitements will build two new industrial halls and a control building.

The environmental permit for this project has already been issued by the Walloon Region, and work will start in autumn 2021. This project fits in perfectly with the CIRCULAR WALLONIA strategy, in which the metallurgy value chain is a key focus for the future.