With all the disasters and garbage-related issues, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need to be more vigilant about pollution. In particular, the increase in food delivery packaging and disposable is contributing significantly to the waste problem. It is already difficult to find additional landfill space in Korea, and the amount of garbage that used to be exported overseas has also getting limited. In fact, South Korea has the second highest recycling rate among OECD countries. However, a high percentage of them are collected, not recycled. Our recycling rate is 23% as of 2019, and has been in the 30% range in recent years.

Artificial intelligence recycler to help us recycle more

Seoreu is a company that uses artificial intelligence to help us recycle more of our trash. Domestic recycling participation rates are among the highest in the world, reaching 87.6% in 2021. But even so, less than 30% of waste is actually recycled. The company has developed Wimple bin, an AI-powered recycling waste sorting system that dramatically increases recycling rates. “The current system, which relies on human eyes and hands, makes it difficult to expand the supply of recycled materials,” the company said. South Korea’s recycling market is worth more than KRW 20 trillion annually, and the mandate to use recycled plastic raw materials has increased the demand. However, since the existing system relies on human eyes and hands to separate, transport, sort, process, and recycle, and it is difficult to sort accurately and is not effective. The company has acquired large-scale data sets that are detailed and processed in various forms, and has the capability to develop AI-based solutions. The company did its best to increase the recycling rate, including designing and building the sorting center in collaboration with the Korea Waste Association and experts from more than a dozen sorting centers.

56 items can be recognized

Smartphone app

Seoreu’s AI, Wee, used in the Wimple bin, does not recognize trademarks or barcodes, but instead uses deep learning-based image recognition technology to determine the shape of objects. In order to increase the recycling rate, the company collected a large amount of high-quality data directly in accordance with the Ministry of Environment’s separated emission standards and conducted artificial intelligence learning, and established data on foreign substances and multi-packaging materials for the first time in Korea. Wimple bin recognizes a total of 56 items, and learns on its own to accurately categorize them. So we do not have to think about it as hard as we used to, we can just put the garbage in the dumpster. Wimple bin has a wide recycling compartment for larger recyclables and two built-in storage compartments inside that can hold up to 150 liters of waste. Transparent bins allow for internal checks to ensure cleanliness and prevent bin terrorism. You can set the items you want to sort when purchasing a product, and Wimple bin will automatically sort the items you set into bin 1, and other items into bin 2. Wimple bin is easy to use with a sliding vinyl hanger that can be removed by simply pulling forward, a maintenance compartment, a removable handle, and height-adjustable feet, and can be managed via a smartphone app. The company plans to introduce a large-scale sorting system using AI such as Wimple bin as a prototype in the fourth quarter of this year. The large-scale sorting system, which will be equipped with data collection that reflects field conditions, high-accuracy algorithms, experience in developing robotic light systems, and experience in developing secondary sorting devices, Sacra Robot + Secondary Sorter can sort 120 pieces of waste per minute, with optimal sorting of 4 types and up to 16 types. The company is also working on a smart container. “Ultimately, artificial intelligence will make the recycling system more efficient,” the company said.