A project developing a hybrid AI and Near-Infrared (NIR) waste recognition and monitoring system has been awarded £488,000 by the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) challenge.
Paul Davidson, challenge director for UKRI’s SSPP challenge, said: “If successful, these projects have the potential to rewrite the relationship we all have with plastic packaging.”
AI-start up Greyparrot is working with recycling technology company Blue Green Vision to create a solution which provides automated, cost-effective, and accurate recognition of plastics waste at scale.
Furthermore, the system will enable the identification of a range of material and packaging, including the recognition of black plastics and mixed material packaging. It has also been designed to distinguishing packaging by usage including food and non-food items. It can differentiate polymers with a high granularity.
According to the collaboration, live recognition data will be integrated with sorting machines and other equipment to add cognitive intelligence to existing infrastructure. This aims to increase the accuracy of plastics sorting. This recognition capability could one day be extended to other materials such as scrap metal and fibre.
Mikela Druckman, co-founder and CEO of Greyparrot, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Blue Green Vision on a new approach to optimise material auditing and sorting at scale, contributing to a stronger UK recycling system.
“Our ultimate goal is to support the UK Plastics Pact’s target which calls for 70% of plastics packaging to be recycled or composted.”
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