The world is full of trash, and it’s only getting worse. The problem is that we don’t have enough landfills to hold all of our garbage, and the ocean is becoming increasingly polluted. With the help of artificial intelligence, we may be able to finally get a handle on our waste problem.
One of the biggest roadblocks to addressing our trash crisis is the difficulty in identifying what is and isn’t trash. The methods currently employed to identify garbage are time-consuming, expensive, and low-tech. For example, garbage is currently often sorted by hand through a process called sieving.
Sieving involves passing stuff through a series of metal sieves with different-sized holes in them. Everything that gets caught in the sieve above a certain size goes into one pile, and everything that gets caught under it goes into another pile.
The problem with this method is that it doesn’t do a very good job of separating the garbage. Garbage often ends up getting sorted into piles even after the sieving process has been completed, because it’s easy to add loose items to any given pile. In fact, this type of sorting can’t even distinguish between different types of garbage – everything from coffee grounds to plastic bags to used plastic bags can end up in one pile or another.
The Impact Of AI On Waste Management
In the past, companies around the world have faced the problem of managing trash in a way that was both efficient and effective. This problem is particularly important when it comes to large-scale sorting, which is why AI is often tied to garbage sorting in popular culture.
Every year, over 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste is generated before it reaches consumers’ refrigerators.
In many cases, waste management companies find themselves using human workers to sort through streams of garbage as quickly as possible. As you could guess, this means that human workers are going to miss a lot of debris or unwanted items – which can lead to dangerous situations if they get into the wrong stream and contaminate other types of waste. The end result is that garbage sorting can be both extremely costly and inefficient.
The Future Of AI In Waste Management
To sum things up, AI is an incredibly powerful system that can help to sort through massive and complex streams of garbage. The system is able to identify different types of items in the stream, figure out where those items came from, and even predict where you’re likely to find them in the future. As a result, you’ll be able to understand how people are using your trash services better than ever before.
With AI technology, it is practically possible to convert 1% of controlled and analysed waste into 100%.
If you’d like a more in-depth look at how AI could improve waste management services for your company, contact us today – we can explain how our technology works and show you exactly how it could work for your business.
Benefits Of AI In Waste Management
Smart sensors are a key component of AI-powered waste management. The waste and recycling industry is always looking for new ways to manage waste. One new method that is being developed is the use of machine learning at waste management facility.
This technology can help to identify different types of waste, including food waste, and municipal solid waste. By using machine learning, these facilities can more effectively manage their waste and recycle more materials.
1. AI Can Identify And Separate Different Types Of Garbage
Even after a garbage sieveing process is completed, much of the trash in a given pile will still not be clearly identifiable. This makes it hard to figure out which piles should go together and which should go to separate piles.
That’s where AI comes in. AI can sort through the garbage and figure out exactly what types of trash each pile contains, even items that haven’t yet been picked up by sieves. This means that you don’t have to spend money on labor-intensive methods for sorting through garbage – in fact, this could save you a lot of money on labor costs down the road.
2. AI Can Identify Which Items Are Hazardous Waste
The individual types of garbage that get separated into different piles are not the only items of concern. Hazardous waste – things like batteries, used toilet paper, and toxic chemicals – can also get mixed in with other trash, making it hard to identify.
However, if AI is used to sort through garbage streams, it should be able to identify hazardous waste without the need for humans to manually sort through every piece of trash.
3. AI Can Make Use Of Data That Has Never Been Used Before
AI has the ability to analyze vast amounts of data in an effective, efficient, and consistent manner. Sometimes that means using data from ground-level scanning of garbage streams to identify trash.
For example, one company called Ecomare is currently using AI for sorting through the garbage in India. These systems are able to create accurate maps of what types of trash are being thrown out in a particular region based on the types and quantities of waste being deposited (such as coffee grounds, discarded napkins, medical waste, and more).
4. AI Can Collect Data That Humans Can’t Easily See
The basic problem with human-based garbage sorting is that it requires humans to take a certain amount of time to review every piece of trash. This means that any kind of debris or trash that hasn’t yet been picked up by a garbage sieve will be missed, even if it has the potential to contaminate something else in the pile.
This can have disastrous consequences, especially when it comes to dangerous materials like batteries and broken glass. Luckily, AI won’t have these troubles – instead, it will be able to scan for any kind of contamination in the stream without missing anything potentially dangerous.
Risks Of AI In Waste Management
As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the waste generation. Weigh food waste is one way to help the recycling industry in recycling waste. Solid waste is another type of waste that can be recycled.
Hera handles 6.3 million tonnes of trash per year over 89 sites.
Ai technologies are being used to develop recycling processes and waste collection methods. Waste containers are being designed to be more space efficient, and debris is being collected and recycled.
1. AI Won’t Iterate On Its Process
One of the biggest problems with human-based sorting is that humans tend to get stuck in a mode of thinking. In many cases, this can make it hard for them to change the way that they think about a problem – if you’ve ever been trapped in a rut or felt like you were thinking in circles, you’ll know how frustrating this experience can be. This problem becomes even more serious when it comes to sorting trash because the garbage streams involved are massive and complex.
On the other hand, AI can be trained to improve itself, so it never feels like you’re thinking in a rut – it will constantly evolve and can always be sure to think about new ways of finding the best way forward. This means that its sorting process will likely never reach a stage where it’s unable to evolve, which is something that humans are often unable to achieve.
2. AI Won’t Move As Slowly As Humans
Humans are capable of moving quite slowly, which means that their sorting processes can take a long time. In many cases, it may take days or weeks to sort through streams of garbage large enough to fill giant trucks.
However, AI is much faster – it can process massive amounts of data in a matter of seconds, so it’s able to find more efficient and effective ways to sort very quickly.
3. AI Won’t Waste Money On Expensive Technology
One of the main problems with human-based sorting is that humans are going to spend a lot of money on tools and labor-saving technology. For example, if you want to sort through trash in a large-scale context, you could try using a mechanical sorting system.
This system can be incredibly expensive, and there’s no guarantee that it would even work – but human workers often get stuck on their previously implemented technology. This means that they’re going to spend money on crappy tools and technology because it’s all they know how to use.
Currently, 1,400 persons are needed to physically spot reusable material during the recycling process.
On the other hand, AI can easily identify low-cost solutions to problems as they arise – so it won’t waste time or money when looking for new ways of sorting trash efficiently. As a result, your company will end up being much more cost-effective than ever before.
4. AI Can Help To Stop Environmental Pollution
One of the most serious problems that you’ll likely face when it comes to sorting trash is contamination. If you don’t sort your trash effectively, then other types of waste will end up contaminating the environment – which could lead to serious issues like stomach problems and even cancer.
Luckily, AI can help with this problem. For example, AI will be able to figure out how harmful certain types of waste are and how likely they are to contaminate the environment. It can also use sensors and cameras to monitor for contamination as soon as it occurs – which means that you’ll be able to put a stop to environmental pollution before it happens.
Final Note
In eight weeks, Hera and the IBM Garage team co-created and released a minimum viable product (MVP) that incorporates IBM Watson® Studio and IBM Watson Machine Learning technology to generate a specific tool for the use case, including a machine learning model to recognise the key waste patterns, using the agile IBM Garage Methodology.
AI will make waste management much more effective, efficient, and cost-effective. By using AI to sort through trash effectively, you’ll be able to eliminate a lot of waste during your operations – which will stop you from spending too much money inefficiently.
Last Updated on September 29, 2023 by Priyanshi Sharma
