One of the critical barriers to increasing recycling rates is the lack of clarity on what is recyclable and where it is supposed to go. Rubbish has launched a new feature called Recycling Assistant, which allows users to receive up-to-date recycling instructions. The AI-driven service helps to identify how the user should dispose of a particular item, whether that be in the trash, recycling, compost, or a location that accepts electronics, also known as e-waste and other Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) such as motor oil.
The new Recycling Assistant feature is user-friendly, and can be navigated to, from the home page of the Rubbish app, under the feature “How to Recycle.” Simply take a photo of the item you want to dispose of, and the AI service will provide appropriate disposal instructions.
Categorizing waste via AI removes the user input from waste-sorting, and simplifies the challenging decisions that users face. In my own use of the Rubbish app, I was impressed by the detail of the recycling guidance provided by the AI feature. The AI assistant recognized a bottle of hand sanitizer, and instructed me to recycle it once it is empty and rinsed out.
Along with the hand sanitizer bottle, the Recycling Assistant AI was able to accurately provide disposal instructions for a plastic container of fruit, a packaging container for coconut water, as well as an avocado. The assistant even instructed me to remove the sticker on the avocado before composting, a small detail that many people might fail to remember. How cool is that!
When placing an item in the recycling, should you rinse or toss it right away? The answer, unfortunately, is an astounding…”It depends”. The Rubbish Recycling Assistant can assist with this dilemma in certain instances and give you directions.
Different waste management services and recycling centers accept different items, which makes it challenging for waste to end up in the right spot. San Francisco and Berkeley, although less than 15 miles away, have differing instructions on which bin to dispose of a milk carton in, for example. In Berkeley, milk cartons are not recyclable and must be placed in the trash, whereas in San Francisco, they should be put in the blue bin. 1
Another example of conflicting guidance is that of black plastic, which is controversial in the recycling industry to say the least. Oftentimes recycling facilities cannot detect black plastics and sort them properly, due to their color. Near-infrared lasers in recycling facilities scan plastics to sort them, however, black plastics absorb this light and are sent to the landfill.2 Many regions will ask you to place black plastics in the recycling despite them not being easily recycled, which creates a complicated situation for even the most ambitious recyclers. Rubbish recommends that users follow their local guidance as much as possible.
Municipal recycling guidelines like the one pictured above, while valuable, often fall short. They can quickly become outdated, cannot cover every possible item, and may pose challenges for non-native speakers. These limitations contribute to the widespread confusion about proper waste sorting. The Rubbish Recycling Assistant hopes to fix this issue by answering these questions for you, and Rubbish is working on enhancing this new feature to increase its clarity and accuracy. The Rubbish app currently follows widely accepted recycling best practices. In major cities, it can adapt to provide location specific categorization. Rubbish is continuously optimizing each region and aims to offer location-specific recycling guidance for an increasing number of cities over time.
As a tool, we hope that Rubbish’s AI Recycling Assistant will be a true game changer, reducing the massive information problem that is recycling guidance. Rubbish is continually working on improving the Recycling Assistant, and looks forward to expanding the applications of this new feature.
Download the Rubbish app here, and give the Recycling Assistant a try! Any and all feedback is welcome.
