‘Plants have been using outdated technologies’

AI robotics startup EverestLabs is making a quantum leap forward in recycling technology. The development could help America’s recycling centers recover $1 million per year of recyclable materials that have been ending up in the trash, Business Insider reports.

“Recycling plants have been using outdated technologies,” JD Ambati, CEO and founder of EverestLabs, said in an interview with Business Insider. “They’re focused on processing volume at a high throughput, which has the unintended consequences of a lot of material getting shoved into the conveyor lines that send the materials to the landfill.”

Right now, America is failing to recover a lot of recyclable material — and the problem is so bad that Greenpeace considers plastic recycling “a failed concept.”

Business Insider estimates that 76% of recyclables get put in the trash instead of the recycling bin at home — often because people don’t know what you can recycle. At recycling centers, another 3% of potentially valuable material is incorrectly sorted and ends up on a conveyor belt to the dump.

But that’s where AI comes in. EverestLabs has developed a sorting system that can pick out recyclable items from the last-chance conveyor belt using 3D cameras. 

The system is focused specifically on the most valuable recyclables: aluminum and certain kinds of plastic. A newly installed system at Caglia Environmental’s recycling plant is expected to divert 1 million aluminum cans per year, Business Insider reveals.

Aluminum is a particularly valuable material because it can be 100% recovered from any product and made into a new one.

“Every time an aluminum can is thrown in the trash, it’s just a horrendous waste to the Earth,” Ambati said. “It is infinitely recyclable and can become part of your car door, washing machine, window frames, you name it. That is what people are missing.”

Plastic, meanwhile, can help manufacturers meet environmental quotas for including recycled materials in their products and packaging.

All of this recycled material saves consumers money and protects the Earth from more mining and oil extraction. It’s a win for everyone, including the recycling plants that can now boost their revenue.

“A million-dollar loss is substantial for these recycling plants,” Ambati said. He also told Business Insider that the waste industry is starting to see the benefits of investing in AI. “They wanted to get comfortable with what this technology can do.”

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