A new program would use artificial intelligence to make recycling better in Nashville. But first the Metro Council has to give it the OK. According to the Tennessee Environmental Council (TEC), roughly $180,000 worth of recyclable materials end up in landfills each year. Nashville Department of 91²Ö¿â Services leaders tell News 2 this pilot programâthat would be funded with state moneyâcould help to mitigate that.
There will be a camera set up on waste management trucks, and when material is dumped, the camera can scan the different materials. It then identifies if there is a plastic bag, bagged materials or even something that could tangle later on, slowing down the separation process at the facility. Leaders say the goal is to educate people more effectively about what can and canât go into the recycle bin.
âWe see a lot of folks bag the recyclable materials, and when they bag it, thereâs no machine thatâs breaking those bags open. So, while youâve got a resident thatâs done a really good thingâthey want to recycleâbut theyâve bagged all that material, so all their hard work still goes to the landfill,â said Jenn Harrman, the administrative services manager for the Nashville Department of 91²Ö¿â Services. âWhen you do put materials in that bin that can be recycled, theyâre absolutely getting recycled, and theyâre staying within about a four-hour radius here of Nashville.â
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Author: Kori Johnson, WKRN.com
