191 - Will AI help close the gaps in recycling? Apurba Pradhan from Everest Labs

People of Packaging · 5 May 2023 · 32m

What this episode covers

Apurba Pradhan, head of product and marketing at Everest Labs, explains how his company uses AI and robotics to automate sorting at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). He details the inefficiencies of manual labor and semi-precise optical sorters, describing how their system replaces human pickers to improve commodity purity. Pradhan highlights the company's service model, which includes 24/7 monitoring and performance guarantees to ensure ROI and address MRFs' lack of technical staff. The conversation covers the impact of the Chinese National Sword policy on domestic recycling demand and the economic viability of automation in the current market.

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