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Now this is something that AI should help with.
by halite 8y ago
Now this is something that AI should help with.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoSort of. Machine vision is helpful, but the more trash in the recycling stream, the more dexterity your processing automation requires to handle non-compliant material, as well as the costs of trashing that non-compliant material. More emphasis needs to be placed on reducing the waste stream as a whole (trash and recyclables), and then leaning on a recycling lifecycle (with the remaining material disposed of with plasma gasification).
- digikata 8y agoStill it seems like this would be a great automation problem to work on - not your standard shiny tech problem but something that would really make a difference.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoI wouldn’t talk someone out of working on solving the waste stream problem.
- Animats 8y agoAlready working in the most advanced recycling plants. Stadler's latest plant has zero people hand-sorting.[1] Here's NYC's big plant in Brooklyn.[2] Sill some hand-sorting. A robotic one from Japan.[3] It may not be profitable, but it's quite possible to separate just about everything automatically now. [1] http://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/stadler-installs-fully-automated-waste-sorting-plant-norway-roaf/ http://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/stadler-installs-fully... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUrBBBs7yzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUrBBBs7yzQ [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxkklR3BNFc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxkklR3BNFc
- toomuchtodo 8y agoAwesome links, thanks for sharing! I won’t call the technical problem “solved”, but the larger issue is the politics that people think recyclables have suffient value to self-sustain recycling operations, and that isn’t the case. You’re going to have to pay for both your trash and recyclables to be disposed of, you’ll just pay less for the recyclables.
- superflyguy 8y agoOr blockchains, or 3d printers or whatever next year's exciting buzzword is.
- briandear 8y agoContainerization
- chrsstrm 8y agoOr you can just cut the problem in half overnight by mandating that manufacturers indicate on the packaging whether or not it is recyclable. We already have the recycle logo on the most common items, but as the article indicates, the biggest issue is with people hoping that an item can be recycled and throwing it in the blue bin in earnest optimism. Putting "Please dispose in trash, this item is not able to be recycled" on the container will take you further than any tech solution.
- melling 8y agoIf you make manufacturers label the material, it becomes an easier AI problem to solve.
- chrsstrm 8y agoI'm genuinely curious as to which side of the equation you'd like to implement this solution - the consumer who throws the item away or the central sorting center that receives the items? Sure, a metro area sorting center might be interested, but many are government owned and require approval or even a referendum to increase the budget for this type of system. Rural sorting centers have no budget and the most high tech piece of equipment are the metal detectors positioned along conveyors (just before a couple scores of humans who do the actual sorting). You can give people an app to scan an item before they toss it, but that implies they'll actually use it. I want futuristic automated flying trash-sorting robots too, but I also don't think we've exhausted the easier options before jumping right into the high-cost tech solution.
- melling 8y agoI don’t know the best solution, but making it an easier problem to solve is always beneficial.
- Yoric 8y agoI like the idea, but there is the problem that not all cities/recyclers have the same capabilities, though.
- 8y ago