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 Waste Services leaders tell News 2 this pilot program鈥攖hat would be funded with state money鈥攃ould 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 can鈥檛 go into the recycle bin.
鈥淲e see a lot of folks bag the recyclable materials, and when they bag it, there鈥檚 no machine that鈥檚 breaking those bags open. So, while you鈥檝e got a resident that鈥檚 done a really good thing鈥攖hey want to recycle鈥攂ut they鈥檝e bagged all that material, so all their hard work still goes to the landfill,鈥� said Jenn Harrman, the administrative services manager for the Nashville Department of Waste Services. 鈥淲hen you do put materials in that bin that can be recycled, they鈥檙e absolutely getting recycled, and they鈥檙e staying within about a four-hour radius here of Nashville.鈥�