WatchDog Robotics' Autonomous Suppression Systems are engineered to keep waste and recycling facilities operational, tackling risks from combustible materials, battery fires, and heat buildup. These versatile systems deliver reliable fire protection with seamless integration into any operation, ensuring continuity, safety and peace of mind for your team.
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Mobile & Fixed
Autonomous Suppression
The waste and recycling industry faces constant fire threats—lithium-ion batteries, smoldering loads, conveyor belt heat, and spontaneous combustion in piles of material. These fires can ignite without warning and escalate quickly, making fast, reliable suppression essential.
Facilities like MRFs, transfer stations, and recycling sites demand more than alarms or conventional sprinklers. WatchDog’s NozzleBot™ uses thermal imaging, AI analytics, and precision-guided suppression to detect and stop fires in under 15 seconds—without flooding the facility or damaging equipment.
Our autonomous systems operate 24/7, adapting to your site’s layout and materials, while providing real-time monitoring and suppression.
With WatchDog Robotics, you stay ahead of risk, reduce downtime, and protect people, property, and productivity.
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Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs)
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Single-stream & dual-stream recycling plants
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Transfer stations
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Waste-to-energy preprocessing
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Shredding, baling, and sorting lines
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Conveyor corridors and drop points
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Outdoor stockpiles and tip floors
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Scrap yards and mixed-commodity storage
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Temporary operations during equipment upgrades or repairs
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Hidden Ignition Sources
Lithium-ion batteries prone to thermal runaway, pressurized containers, and hot materials enter waste streams undetected. -
Mechanical Heat & Friction
Shredders, conveyors, balers, and sorting equipment generate heat and sparks. -
Fuel-Dense Materials
Plastics, paper, rubber, textiles, and residual organics burn intensely. -
Open & Outdoor Operations
Many hazards exist outside buildings unprotected by the NFPA 13 fixed sprinkler systems that govern interior protection. -
Continuous Operations
Fires often occur during off-hours when staffing is minimal. -
Rapid Fire Spread
Conveyor belts and stockpiles allow fires to travel quickly across zones.
Use Cases
Why the High Risks?
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Why do recycling facilities experience so many fires?
Recycling streams frequently contain hidden ignition sources—especially lithium-ion batteries—combined with combustible materials and mechanical processing. These conditions produce frequent ignition events that escalate quickly if not suppressed immediately.
Why are sprinklers often ineffective in recycling plants?
How does WatchDog detect fires earlier than traditional systems?
Sprinklers activate late, may be obstructed by equipment, and provide limited coverage outdoors. Fires often start at floor level or inside machinery where ceiling discharge is delayed or blocked.
WatchDog uses continuous thermal monitoring or IR3 to identify abnormal heat signatures or flames at conveyors, drop points, and processing equipment—triggering suppression within seconds.
Learn more: https://www.watchdogrobotics.com/nozzlebot
Can WatchDog protect conveyor belts and processing lines?
Yes. Targeted suppression is essential to prevent fire from traveling along conveyor belts or sorting lines, which act as vectors for rapid horizontal fire spread and can lead to major damage in downstream processing equipment. This is one of the most common loss scenarios in MRFs.
How does WatchDog address lithium-ion battery fires in recycling streams?
Early cooling limits extreme heat and off-gassing associated with thermal runaway and propagation. WatchDog’s rapid response reduces the chance that a small battery ignition escalates into a facility-wide fire.
Is WatchDog suitable for outdoor stockpiles and yards?
Can WatchDog reduce or replace manual fire watch?
How do AHJs evaluate autonomous systems in recycling facilities?
What water sources can WatchDog's NozzleBot use in recycling operations?
Does WatchDog's NozleBot interfere with processing equipment or operations?
How does WatchDog help with insurance requirements?
Can WatchDog's systems be repositioned as processing layouts change?
Yes. Outdoor yards are among the highest-risk areas and are typically unprotected by sprinklers. WatchDog provides autonomous detection and suppression in these exposed zones with weather-proof components and long lasting 316L stainless steel construction
With AHJ approval, WatchDog can reduce reliance on human fire watch by providing continuous autonomous monitoring and immediate suppression within seconds of ignition, delivering a level of protection that significantly exceeds the response time capabilities of human patrols.
AHJs review performance data, detection reliability, suppression capability, and deployment plans—often under Alternative Means & Methods or performance-based designs. Under AM&M, WatchDog NozzleBots demonstrate the ability to deliver equivalent or superior risk mitigation—specifically propagation control in waste streams. Our systems can also integrate with existing sprinklers to act in a supplementary capacity, often preventing the sprinklers from activating in scenarios where sprinklers are still required.
The NozzleBot can be supplied by hydrants, tanks, cisterns, plant water and municipal supplies—important for facilities with limited infrastructure or temporary operations.
No. Floor-based deployment, wall mounts or overhead mounts allow normal operations and maintenance to continue uninterrupted. A system is configured to meet the needs of the site.
By providing early suppression, WatchDog helps prevent the large-scale loss events that drive insurer requirements, aligning with risk-engineering goals to minimize claims.
Yes. Recycling layouts evolve or expand frequently. WatchDog units can be moved or expanded to protect new risk zones without system redesign.
Is WatchDog effective during equipment maintenance or downtime?
Yes. Maintenance periods can increase risk. WatchDog provides continuous protection when safeguards are reduced or equipment is exposed, on guard 24/7/365.
How does WatchDog compare to fixed deluge or water spray systems?
Fixed systems require extensive piping and permanent infrastructure, and create significant collateral damage when triggered. WatchDog delivers faster, targeted suppression with rapid deployment adapted to the nature of waste handling and processing lines. After activation and extinguishment, the system stops straying and resumes monitoring.
Can WatchDog be used in temporary recycling operations?
How does WatchDog handle fires inside enclosed machinery?
Is continuous monitoring important for recycling facilities?
Yes. Temporary or seasonal facilities often lack fixed suppression, especially in overflow areas. WatchDog installs quickly and provides autonomous protection without structural modifications.
Thermal detection identifies abnormal heating and initiates suppression at access points—limiting spread until responders address the source. It is not a replacement for internal suppression systems.
Yes. Fires frequently occur at night or during low staffing, and with the increasing occurrence of batteries, after hours fires are more common. Autonomous systems provide uninterrupted oversight when humans are absent.
When should recycling operators consider WatchDog Robotics?
A recycling facility or waste-handling plant should consider WatchDog Robotics when recurring hotspots, outdoor hazards, underperforming sprinklers, or high fire-watch costs create unacceptable operational, personnel or insurance risk. Whenever fires occur frequently or protection gaps exist; especially around stockpiles, tipping floors, conveyors, and bale storage; WatchDog provides unmatched autonomous detection and suppression.
Click below to read more Frequently Asked Questions
Topic Overview
Recycling and waste-handling facilities experience some of the highest fire frequencies across industrial sectors. Mixed waste streams combine easily ignitable materials (plastics, paper), embedded ignition sources including high-hazard potential of hidden Lithium-ion batteries, mechanical processing, conveyors, and outdoor stockpiles create conditions where fires ignite easily and spread rapidly due to thermal runaway. Many facilities operate continuously, rely on open processes, and include outdoor yards that traditional sprinkler systems cannot protect.
WatchDog autonomous fire suppression systems provide continuous thermal monitoring and immediate, targeted suppression across indoor processing lines and outdoor storage areas. By acting at the earliest stage of ignition, WatchDog reduces fire size, limits propagation, and supports AHJ-approved strategies to supplement fixed systems—or serve as an alternative where sprinklers are infeasible—while reducing reliance on manual fire watch.