Researchers develop 'AI-enhanced' solution to major problem with common waste: 'Offers a promising route'

When artificial intelligence and the environment are mentioned in the same news story, the implications are often negative. After all, the massive data centers that power AI models consume enormous quantities of electricity and water, all of which comes at an environmental and economic cost. 

However, scientists in the Netherlands have been exploring ways to use AI in environmentally beneficial ways. Specifically, they have been using AI to figure out new techniques for recycling plastics that previously could not be recycled in a financially viable way.

In an effort to change this, researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology have been using "AI-enhanced" models to help them develop new methods of using solvents to recycle multilayer plastics in economical and energy-efficient ways.

"Multilayer plastics present a major challenge for recycling," said Željko Tomović, the project lead, according to Packaging Insights. 

Effective methods for recycling multilayer plastics have proved mostly elusive to date, largely because the items usually consist of layers of different polymers. 

"Mechanical recycling is limited by polymer incompatibility," Tomović explained, per Packaging Insights. "Solvent-based recycling offers a promising route to produce high-quality recyclates."

By using artificial intelligence, the researchers hope to overcome some of the technological and practical hurdles that have prevented the large-scale recycling of multilayer plastics.

Such a breakthrough would reduce the amount of plastic pollution contaminating the globe. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 22 million tons of plastic litter end up in the environment every single year. And that number is only expected to increase. 

While scientists search for new ways to recycle plastic, the best way to prevent plastic pollution remains avoiding plastic products in the first place.

Not everyone can be a scientist who uses AI to discover new techniques for recycling plastic. However, by choosing plastic-free options for everyday items, we all can help reduce plastic waste.

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