Auto-Sorting Waste Bins

Many substances that reach recycling facilities cannot be processed by the sorting machinery, thus slowing the process and damaging the facility. This is caused by people's poor recycling habits, sometimes from lack of knowledge.

We hope to remedy this issue by creating something to educate and give people hope in their recycling abilities.

In 2017 China passed the National Sword policy, which banned the imports of all plastic waste. Up until then, China had been processing 45% of the world's recycling.

Ever since China did this, America has been in a bad situation. We had been sending 70% of our waste to China, and as a result our recycling system is very unequipped to handle the sudden and massive influx. With small town operations hit the hardest, many communities have stopped their programs altogether.

This problem is only exacerbated by the poor recycling practices prevalent in American society. Many people partake in "wish-cycling," where they throw anything they are unsure of into recycling bins with the hope that it might be recyclable. Things that are frequently wish-cycled--like food scraps, plastic bags, and plastic films--often cannot be, and have to be sorted out manually or by rudimentary sorting machines in centers. Plastic shopping bags in particular pose the biggest problem for recycling facilities, as the bags can wrap around and damage machinery that could cost upwards of $10,000 to replace.

Then there is also the issue of people recycling things that are actually recyclable in the wrong way. This usually manifests in the form of containers with food waste still in them. Like simple plastics, contamination can also damage machinery; and since recycling facilities are already overwhelmed, these items are automatically sorted out. Take, for instance, an unwashed pasta sauce jar. It could potentially contain sought-after items like glass and aluminum, but since it was recycled in a contaminated state it would have to be sorted out and sent to the landfill.

According to insert source, a whopping “30 percent of recycling should have never been there to begin with." This obviously takes a huge toll on the efficiency of our system (find source on how much of a toll).