OBRC develops container returns technology

The Clackamas, Oregon-based Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) has developed and patented its Smart Count AI system, which uses artificial intelligence (AI), a neural network and specialized software to “rapidly count containers by batch.”

OBRC says adoption of the system could be “critical to processing and counting the 12 million Green Bags Oregonians return each year." As part of the state’s deposit return system (DRS), or bottle bill, Oregon residents can buy Green Bag-branded plastic bags to return for recycling beverage containers unsorted and in larger amounts.

The new technology was developed in-house at OBRC, the organization says, and has been designed to count beverage containers and credit customer accounts “significantly faster” than previous options.

“Oregonians across the state return nearly 2 billion containers a year, and we needed a faster, more efficient, more accurate processing system to make sure every dime gets back to the customer,” OBRC President and CEO Jules Bailey says. “Now with our patented Smart Count AI–technology developed here at OBRC--we’ve got a system that is all that and more.”

OBRC received its patent for the Smart Count AI this January.

“The Smart Count AI has been critical to responding to the rapid growth in Green Bag accounts in recent years, as Oregonians use convenient drop-off options to receive their Oregon 10-cent refunds,” OBRC says.

The technology has been designed to work in cooperation with the state’s BottleDrop network of collection centers.

In addition to Smart Count AI to process Green Bags, OBRC says it has developed a technology called Stream Count AI, which it says “is a customer-facing front-of-house technology at redemption centers.”

Stream Count AI allows customers at some BottleDrop Redemption Centers to empty bags of containers onto a conveyor belt, where they are quickly counted through technology similar to the Smart Count AI. Customers receive a printed voucher at the end of the transaction and can redeem it for cash immediately. “What might have previously taken up to 30 minutes at a reverse vending machine can be done in a minute or two at the Stream Count AI,” OBRC adds.

The organization says it has deployed the Stream Count AI technology at BottleDrop Redemption Centers in northeast Portland and in the North Bend/Coos Bay region of the state, and it plans to continue expanding the use of both systems.

That expansion could include making the technology available out of state. “Already, OBRC is providing the operational solution for a pilot project in California, which includes the Smart Count AI, a dedicated mobile application, a customer account interface and mechanized material sortation equipment,” the group says.

“OBRC’s patented technology allows Oregon to be the most convenient, most accurate and most efficient system in the country,” Bailey adds. “We’re confident and excited about the opportunity for our innovative technology to help improve the performance of redemption systems around the world.”

OBRC says through its BottleDrop Redemption Centers and container pickup service it works with more than 2,000 retail partners and helps recycle nearly 2 billion beverage containers annually.