This will keep more plastic out of landfills and help recycle reusable material.

The CleanBC Plastics Action Fund, which is funded by the BC Government and administered by Alacrity Cleantech, has awarded a grant of $300,000 to Metaspectral, a Canadian company that derive real-time insights from AI using ultra-high-resolution, visible-to-infrared (hyperspectral) images. (Environment Energy Leader)

Metaspectral will use the grant to develop computer vision, artificial intelligence, and robotic tools designed to sort consumer waste, increase efficiency in processing materials and improve the quality of post-consumer recycled plastic.

Higher quality plastics obtained by more accurate sorting of plastic waste will boost recycling businesses and enhance investment in capacity for processing recyclable plastics. More plastic will be kept out of landfills and therefore the process wil also have an environmental payoff.

AI to enhance plastics sorting

“By using ultra-high-resolution hyperspectral imaging, our AI is able to efficiently distinguish among types of plastics for accurate and easy sorting,” said Francis Doumet, CEO of Metaspectral. “It is impossible for humans to differentiate between different types of clear plastic bottles with the naked eye, so until now, various types of recycled clear plastics were sold together in bulk, decreasing the quality and value of the finished recycled material.”

“Our technology will make it possible to differentiate between otherwise indistinguishable materials in real-time, automatically, meaning that large quantities of plastic can be sorted and recycled more efficiently and accurately.”

This efficiency will help meet federal and provincial targets for recycling.

It may be noted that the Government of Canada has a Greening Government strategy of increasing the ratio of plastics that are recycled to 75% by 2030, up from 9% today.

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