Why The United States Is Turning To Recycling Robots

For decades, the United States and other wealthy countries have been dependent on China to buy and process almost half of the world’s plastic waste. Now, stricter recycling standards in China mean its cheaper for some US cities to simply send recyclables to the dump rather than pay a higher fee to process them. That’s why a number of researchers and tech companies are working on robots to make US recycling more efficient.

*** Correction *** at 2:19 we describe the capacity of the Mobro 4000 as 3,000 pounds. The actual capacity is 3,000 tons.

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Why The United States Is Turning To Recycling Robots

[christianmartinez]

All the junk mail and marketing needs to stop too. Cut packaging, and let us separate our recycling.

[nickgehr]

Well.. It's looks like we gonna get Wall-E a little bit earlier

[WetterZuLaub]

Every household in Switzerland seperates around 10 lines:
Glass white
Glass brown
Glass green
Metals
Oils mechanic
Oils organic
Paper
Cardbox
Compostables
Waste
Plastic 1
Plastic 2
Batteries
Electronics

Citizens have to pay a small fee for waste, but everything else is free, that‘s how people get invested into seperating.

Paper, Cardbox and waste are collected by state.
Compostables are collected by private companies or farmers.
2 kinds of Plastics, electronics and Batteries we return at the store.
The rest we bring to recycling storages which we can always find in walking distance.
It‘s really no effort at all, you don‘t need do capitalise waste by private companies. Let it be capitalised by state and keep every single citizen involved.

[rharnatkiewicz]

reduce and reuse so you don't have to recycle, that was a great statement

[VAULT-TEC_INC.]

Good to see that smart people are still trying to solve our problems though innovation and invention!

[sa-udgl]

It's like trying to bail water out of a sinking boat. You don't improve the water bailing process with a pump alone, you fix the hole.

Waste is just a symptom of a bigger issue.

[Joshua]

I ordered a usb cable once I swear the package was twice the cost. All I wanted was the cable

[thkid]

just be more like Japan. Sort your damn recycling.

[johnparkfernando]

I wouldn't mind having multiple recycling bins in my home and having to throw them away accordingly. US Gov should facilitate this change.

[jluis]

I want a job with AMP Robotics. They are doing amazing things that are not the only TECH but have real-world solving potential. Man, what a great job this is. Modern-day superheroes.

[tapsulinka]

One of the easiest way to handle the problem is to separate all the different types already at homes, offices and factories. Another solution is to make less different packages and try to avoid laminated materials so avoid plastic laminated with aluminium foil etc

[Tony_Tavo]

could probably require manufacturers to take pictures of their products in several states(intact, cut up, crushed) and submit them to a database that these robots use to determine their make up.


even small QR codes or Machine Identification Code that would not stand out to consumers.

[baljeetbhachu]

why aren't manufacturers and packaging producers making their products easier to sort? Eg starbucks could incorporate visible markings like barcodes identifying paper or plastic cups. They should also recognise the value of the raw materials they use and pay for the recycling thus reducing the burden on cities eg amazon pays to recycle cardboard boxes and in turn receives recycled cardboard for reuse

[The_Horizon]

not choosing to spend probably 0.1% of tax money to recycling trash is a bit concerning

[abrahkadabra]

I worked in the recycling industry a long time ago and it was evident to me back then that producers, consumers and waste recyclers must work together to make recycling successful. Back then there was next to no open discussion between the three and it looks like not much has change after almost 30 years. It looks like AI robots will have to rescue humans from themselves....and that's a scary thought. 😕

[camilogomezkeep]

4:05 I dont think the "city" should get so much, after the company is kind of doing them a favor by keeping this burden out of the city's shoulders.

[nicoyou]

Learned a lot. Let's make the consumer more responsible so we don't have to spend so much money down the line.

[wcolby]

2:14 The garbage barge (Mobro) Marlboro 4000 Most likely had 3000 tons of garbage, 3000 pounds of garbage is a large dumpster.

[MrSaemichlaus]

The problem is at the start: the convenience of the consumers. Everyone should separate their waste into different bins and pay waste management by weight. Make the producers of packaging responsible for recycling when they package things in three different layers of plastic, cardboard and such.

[ScreamAimFire]

"3000 lbs of garbage" @2:14

Probably meant tons.