Closing the gap between robotics that works in a lab and robotics that works on your floor
With a project value of £3,609,350, NORAH is the UK's first dedicated waste and recycling robotics adoption hub, running for 43 months, to March 2030.
Adoption, not invention, is the barrier
Rising labour costs and more complex waste streams make robotics a critical way to improve efficiency, recover more material and grow. Yet fewer than 5% of the UK's 3,500 waste management facilities have adopted robotic systems (WRAP, 2023).
That low uptake is not a lack of technology. It is the heterogeneous and contaminated nature of waste streams, limited standardisation, and the difficulty of fitting robotics into existing infrastructure. Together these create high perceived risk, uncertain return on investment and limited access to real testing environments, holding back operators of every size.
A vendor-neutral, end-to-end route to deployment
Unlike centres focused purely on research, the hub works as a vendor-neutral deployment service, combining hands-on testing with standardised benchmarking and real integration support across live waste streams.
Three sites, existing capability
Kingston University London
Roehampton Vale robotics laboratory
A £2m industrial robotics facility used to validate systems and check they are ready for a live site.
University of Kent
Robotics and Assistive Technologies Centre (RACE)
Digital twin simulation, human robot interaction and adaptive control, used to validate systems before deployment.
KAPDAA
Operational robotics facility
A leading textile recycler's live site, used for final testing within real, contaminated waste streams.
See what the hub delivers
Read the services and scope that sit within the adoption pathway.