Sortera adds R&D facility to lineup

Fort Wayne-based Sortera Alloys Inc, a high-tech metal recycling company, says it has opened an office in Austin, Texas that will serve as the company’s primary research and development center. The news comes as the company continues the build out of a 200,000-square-foot processing facility in the northeast Indiana town of Markle.

Sortera says the new plant is scheduled to open this summer.

The company uses artificial intelligence, data analytics and advanced sensors to sort, capture and recycle high-quality aluminum from streams of mixed alloy. The aluminum is then recirculated back into the manufacturing industry.

Sortera says it selected Austin because of its thriving technology ecosystem and the presence of other companies involved in AI research and related fields.

“It is an exceptional place to foster growth and a culture of environmentally conscious development of innovative technologies.  By using the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, Sortera is creating a more sustainable, efficient, and automated recycling process, bringing lightning speed changes to a decades old industry,” said Manuel Garcia, Jr., co-founder and vice president of AI and Data Science for Sortera Alloys.

Sortera’s current technology is able to sort pre-production aluminum and end-of-life mixed alloys by category and chemical composition. The company the new Texas facility will focus on other materials that can be recycled and allow Sortera to expand its sorting capacity for other valuable materials.