Meet Victor Dewulf, co-founder and CEO of Recycleye, a London-based company that makes machine vision systems and robots capable of separating waste on the high-speed conveyor belts at materials recovery facilities (MRFs). Recycleye also hosts Wastenet, the largest databank of images of products and materials that can be used to train computers to sort waste, which is some of the most dangerous work in a recycling facility. The results are cleaner, better-sorted recyclables, as well as greater transparency about the sources of wasteful products and packaging, which can improve how we hold organizations accountable for the waste they create.
A modern society is composed of myriad, complex systems, materials, and responsibilities. As the recycling system matures, the introduction of advanced technology, such as machine vision and robotics that can sort plastic from paper, can simplify the recycling process. But it is still on all of us to send clean recyclables to the right programs to handle them. Even as advanced technology can help to turn more waste into renewed materials and the next generation of products we use, people need to start the recycling process. You can learn more at recycleye.com.
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This podcast originally aired on April 15, 2022.