The world is facing a serious problem, especially in the field of waste recycling. By 2050, the amount of waste is expected to reach 3.8 billion tons, which is almost double the current amount. If we could reduce the amount of things we use, it would help solve this problem. However, the truth is that we are not able to buy less efficiently.
Recycling itself is important to alleviate this situation, but the recycling process itself has its own problems. People often throw unwashed yogurt containers or plastic bags into aluminum cans. This makes the recycling process even more expensive, because, eventually, someone will have to sort out this excess.
Startup Glacier proposes to automate the solution to this problem. Glacier is a six-year-old company that has developed low-cost robotic arms that can identify more than 30 types of materials using computer vision. The robots are already operating successfully in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix, and Seattle.
The company is now planning to expand its robotic fleet to larger areas and recently raised $16 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund and included investors AlleyCorp, Alumni Ventures, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Cox Exponential, Elysium, New Enterprise Associates, One Small Planet, Overlap Holdings, Overture, VSC Ventures, and Working Capital Fund.
Glacier’s Approach: Automated Sorting
Recycling facilities, or MRFs (Material Recovery Facilities), are facing challenges. Governments want to increase recycling, but a shortage of staff and high turnover rates are making it difficult for MRFs.
As Rebecca Hu-Thrams, Glacier’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch, “These jobs are rarely going to be fulfilling positions because people like it more than working in new warehouses with good ventilation.”
Glacier is offering its robots to MRFs on a full-service or lease-to-own basis. The company also provides training and spare parts for MRFs to do the repairs themselves. If MRFs are unwilling to take on the work, Glacier will provide repair packages for them.
Glacier also provides MRFs and other stakeholders with analytics on their waste streams through its data product. For example, for an MRF, this could be identifying where aluminum cans are being lost, or for a company or regulatory body, it could be checking whether packaging materials are recyclable.
AI-powered robots: Putting humans first
Glacier’s robots are capable of making the recycling process significantly more efficient than humans. Areeb Malik, Glacier’s CTO and co-founder, says: “When we send humans to inspect our AI systems, they perform much worse. AI is becoming very powerful and can now distinguish things that humans cannot see.”
Glacier’s future: Expansion and innovation
Glacier plans to develop new miRNA-based technologies and expand its robot fleet this year. The company intends to expand its automated systems to wider networks, including new cities and rural areas.
The new investment will allow Glacier to expand its robotic sorting system to new areas and make the waste recycling process more efficient.
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