How AI Is Transforming Waste Management, Recycling

The World Bank reported 2.24 billion tonnes of solid waste in 2020. According to alarming forecasts, this quantity is likely to rise 73% to 3.88 billion tonnes by 2050. According to Georgia and California University studies, 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic garbage were created between 1950 and 2015.

The garbage challenge is urgent. Therefore, imaginative businesses and inventors are tackling it. Mikela Druckman, the founder of UK-based Greyparrot, has used AI to revolutionize garbage analysis and recycling.

Greyparrot's AI-powered solution analyses trash composition in real time using cameras over conveyor belts at 50 European garbage and recycling plants, according to the BBC.

Despite recent advances, Druckman notes the difficulty of teaching AI systems to identify and categorize garbage reliably. A crumpled, filthy Coke bottle makes the work difficult for AI.

Greyparrot's cutting-edge technology monitors 32 billion trash items yearly, creating a massive digital waste map. Waste managers may use this knowledge to improve operational efficiency, while regulators can use it to influence container design.

Waste Management, Reduction Efforts

Druckman links waste management to climate change by emphasizing how ineffective resource recovery leads to wasteful use. She believes major businesses and manufacturers would use Greyparrot data to create more recyclable items, promote a circular economy, and reduce waste.

Footprint, partnering with retailers and Gillette, is another sustainable packaging leader. They transformed plastic razor trays into plant-based fiber alternatives to reduce packaging waste.

Troy Swope, Footprint's CEO, said people are misled by the "myth of recycling." Swope challenges recycling claims in a thought-provoking blog article, emphasizing the need to stop single-use plastics.

UK-based Polytag created a transparent plastic bottle recycling system. UV tags on old plastic bottles guarantee proper recycling. Polytag's system scans the tags and uploads the data to a cloud-based app for clients when the bottles reach recycling sites. This openness lets merchants and businesses verify that their old plastic bottles are recycled.

Cleaning Up Waterways with AI

Hong Kong startup Open Ocean Engineering developed Clearbot Neo, an AI-enabled robotic boat, to address ocean plastic waste. These sleek, autonomous robots gather floating debris in principal harbors, preventing tonnes of waste from entering the Pacific. The designers of Clearbot Neo want to scale up operations to have fleets of robots worldwide to clean and preserve waterways.

The Clearbot Neo, which is just three meters long and powered by solar batteries, goes methodically through designated water areas in a way much to how a home robot vacuum cleaner moves across a living room floor, as per a Microsoft feature story.

The robotic boat uses AI technology to recognize and catalog the many kinds of rubbish while collecting waste. It may collect up to a metric ton of garbage in a single day intended for recycling or proper disposal. When coupled with a boom, it can gather up to 15 liters of pollutants every day to clean up local oil and gasoline spills.

There is another AI technology that revolutionizes waste sorting and disposal by making the process less laborious. AI-powered sorting devices like the ZenRobotics Recycler and Waste Robotics can detect and separate recyclables from non-recyclables more effectively, decreasing landfill waste, according to a BBN Times report.

Meanwhile, other AI systems provide sustainable trash disposal. WastAway optimizes chemical processes to transform waste into dry, sterile, and odorless fertilizer, reducing energy use and environmental impact. Ecovative uses AI to turn agricultural waste into sustainable packaging materials, supporting greener practices.