Dutch Startup Unveils Revolutionary Ai-Powered Battery Sorting System

In a breakthrough development that promises to revolutionize the recycling industry, a Dutch startup, inSystem.io, has unveiled an AI-powered sorting system capable of efficiently removing batteries from municipal waste streams at industrial scale. The company’s new “Gravity Sorter” can sort up to 50 batteries per second while achieving purity rates above 96 percent during recent facility trials.

This technology addresses a pressing problem that recycling facilities have struggled with for decades: the sorting of portable batteries. Despite widespread awareness about the importance of battery recycling, large numbers of these devices continue to end up in household rubbish. In fact, only around 50% of portable batteries are recycled in the Netherlands, while global recycling rates are estimated at roughly 15%.

A single fully loaded municipal waste collection vehicle contains an average of 252 portable batteries. Once these batteries enter the waste stream, they become difficult to separate from metal fractions after shredding, screening, and magnetic sorting processes.

The lack of effective sorting methods has led recycling operators to employ hand-picking, a labor-intensive approach that is both costly and time-consuming. This method not only fails to achieve high accuracy rates but also poses safety concerns, as contaminated batteries can escape the sorting process and contaminate ferrous scrap output or cause fires downstream.

The inSystem.io Gravity Sorter was designed specifically to address these challenges by developing a new approach that eliminates traditional optical sorting limitations. Unlike conveyor-based systems, which rely on belt movement to separate materials, the Gravity Sorter processes materials in free fall. This innovative design allows for more efficient and accurate separation of batteries from other waste fractions.

The system’s core component is an AI vision system, operating at up to 400 frames per second, which tracks each object individually during its descent, analyzing movement, rotation, and trajectory in real-time. Compressed-air nozzles then eject targeted materials at precisely timed intervals, ensuring high accuracy and precision.

“We built the Gravity Sorter for the fractions that have historically been difficult to sort at scale,” explained Evgeny Gudov, CEO of inSystem B.V. “By developing a new approach, we eliminated the belt and delay-based ejection. The unit works in free fall, and the AI camera tracks each object individually with its speed, acceleration, rotation during the fall to time the ejection precisely. That saves energy and improves accuracy.”

Gudov also highlighted the benefits of this free-fall design, stating that it reduces energy consumption compared to traditional conveyor-based sorting systems. By harnessing the power of gravity alone, the system can optimize compressed-air usage and minimize wasted air.

The Gravity Sorter can process up to six tons of material per hour and is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing recycling lines without requiring major redesign work. This flexibility makes it an attractive solution for recycling operators seeking to upgrade their sorting capabilities.

Beyond batteries, this technology has far-reaching potential for e-waste fragments, plastics, non-ferrous metals, construction waste, and incinerator bottom ash recovery. The company plans to offer upgrades with additional sensing technologies, including NIR, SWIR, LWIR, and X-ray imaging, to identify different plastic polymers and material types.

The Gravity Sorter generated strong interest during IFAT Munich 2026, with recycling operators and plant engineers from across Europe, Canada, Australia, and Latin America requesting pilot evaluations. inSystem.io is now accepting pilot projects and early commercial orders for the system, signaling a promising future for this innovative technology.

As the world continues to grapple with waste management challenges, solutions like the Gravity Sorter offer hope for more efficient and effective recycling practices. By harnessing the power of AI and machine learning, inSystem.io has developed a cutting-edge solution that can help address the complex problems surrounding battery sorting, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable future.

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