Danish engineers want to give your freezer new life with robots and AI

AI and advanced robotics aim to save millions of fridges and freezers from the scrap heap — paving the way for a more circular future.

Every year, more than seven million fridges and freezers are discarded in Europe.

The vast majority end up as scrap, even though components such as compressors, cooling systems, and other electronics could easily be given new life.

Danish engineers are now seeking to change this, using artificial intelligence, cameras, and robots that will eventually be able to disassemble white goods, analyse them, replace worn components, and reassemble them — making them almost as good as new.

Robots learning to save freezers

The Danish Technological Institute (DTI) is participating in the EU-funded RENÉE project, which aims to revolutionise product remanufacturing—also known as remanufacturing.

Here, robots and cameras work together to disassemble used freezers while simultaneously analysing and classifying the condition of each individual component.

− The camera technology is combined with AI, which is effective at detecting damage and wear on the product, explains François Picard, Senior Specialist at DTI, and continues:

− Through the four application examples associated with the project — white goods, robots, motors, and bicycles — we delve into where and how advanced robotics can help ensure more circular remanufacturing of products.

The challenge with appliances like fridges and freezers is complex.

A robot must be able to identify which parts can be reused, which need repair, and which must be completely replaced — all while navigating between electronics, plastic, and aluminum — materials that would otherwise be 'lost forever', as François Picard puts it.

− But remanufacturing is a tough challenge, and it requires investment. Very few companies get started with this. Yet all studies and research indicate this is the way forward — both in terms of saving and creating circularity, emphasises François Picard.

Why use robots?

But why use robots to disassemble freezers? The answer is both economic and practical.

− Manual remanufacturing is very costly, so automation is the key to making remanufacturing a viable business, explains François Picard.

− And if we don’t try, we won’t know if it works.

The issue is that white goods have become so cheap to buy that consumers lack incentive to have them repaired — meaning many fully functional components end up at the scrapyard.

»The goal of the project is that in the end we will have tangible knowledge and experience that can be used to scale up automated remanufacturing.«

François Picard, Senior Specialist at DTI

Project goals

The aim of the project is for the experience to reach beyond the laboratory.

The RENÉE project spans several years and involves 16 partners from nine European countries, including Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, and Turkey.

− The goal of the project is that in the end, we will have concrete knowledge and experience that can be used to scale up automated remanufacturing, emphasises François Picard.

− If this proves possible, it will cover a large share of our consumption. If we can show that it is viable both environmentally and economically, we have won, he adds.

So in the future, when your freezer ‘retires’, it just might get a new beginning — powered by robots, AI, and human expertise.

A circular journey from kitchen, to workshop, and back again.

Do you also want to make your production more circular with AI and robotics? Contact us today.