As recovery and recycling processes become more complex, understanding the materials moving through them is increasingly important.
Drawing on decades of experience in aviation security and detection, Smiths Detection is applying its expertise in advanced imaging, data and artificial intelligence to the identification, characterisation and sorting of materials.
CIRQURA is Smiths Detection’s growing portfolio of solutions for the circular economy, bringing these capabilities together to help operators make more informed decisions, improve consistency and introduce greater automation into complex material processes.
CIRQURA for Batteries is the first solution within this portfolio, applying advanced sensing and AI-powered classification to the sorting of mixed portable batteries and battery packs.
The transition towards a more circular economy is creating new demands across recycling and material recovery operations.
Growing volumes of complex products and materials need to be accurately characterised, separated and recovered. However, many processes still rely heavily on manual identification and sorting, making consistency and scalability difficult to maintain.
Better information about the materials moving through an operation can support:
For decades, Smiths Detection has developed technologies that identify and characterise complex objects and materials. We are now applying four core capabilities to emerging circular-economy challenges:
Advanced sensing
Reveal structural and visual characteristics that cannot be understood from external appearance alone.
Artificial intelligence
Transform complex sensor data into consistent identification and classification decisions.
Automation
Connect intelligent classification with automated sorting, reducing reliance on repetitive manual tasks.
Data-driven insight
Create digital records that provide greater visibility of material streams and support informed operational decisions.
Mixed portable battery streams contain different chemistries, formats and conditions that cannot always be distinguished from their external appearance.
CIRQURA for Batteries is a modular, AI-powered solution for characterising and automatically sorting mixed portable batteries and battery packs up to 5kg by chemistry.
It combines advanced sensing, AI-powered classification and automated separation to enable a more consistent and scalable approach to battery sorting.
Battery sorting demonstrates how established detection expertise can be applied to circular-economy challenges. As material streams evolve, Smiths Detection is exploring how advanced sensing, AI and data can support new identification, sorting and recovery applications.
Do you have a material identification, characterisation or sorting challenge? Talk to our team about how Smiths Detection’s technology and expertise could support your operation.
