“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” — Confucius, 450 BC
In recent years, experiential learning has emerged as a methodology to pass on knowledge and encourage skill adoption. It’s a hands-on approach to education that empowers individuals to learn by doing and has exhibited promising results. If experiential learning is an effective way of instilling knowledge, can it help save recycling?
This article explores the experiential learning process and its potential to enhance recycling behaviors, as well as some practical ways to incorporate experiential learning into recycling education and initiatives.
What is Experiential Learning?
Experiential learning is learning something by doing, reflecting, and applying the knowledge and skills in real life. The experiential learning process allows learners to explore, collaborate, and reflect on what they do to fully accumulate new skills and knowledge. Some common examples of experiential learning are internships, clinical education, student teaching, fieldwork, simulation, and community-based research.
The Psychology of Recycling Behaviors
Studies show when it comes to recycling, people tend to get swayed easily, and small details often result in big behavioral changes. Something as small as the shape of a soda can has an effect on whether we recycle it.
A study conducted by a team of psychologists revealed that people were significantly more likely to recycle when their name was spelled correctly on their cups. 48% of those who had their names spelled right recycled their cup as opposed to 26% who had no name on the cup and 24% of those who had their names misspelled. An author of the study, Jennifer Argo, said:
“We are averse to trashing something that is tied to our identity, as it would be conceptually similar to trashing a part of the self, which makes people more likely to recycle.”
In another study, Argo and her co-author Remi Trudel discovered that an object is more likely to get recycled if it’s in its original shape. For example, a crushed can is considered damaged and is more likely to end up in a trash bin. Additionally, a ripped sheet of paper or small bits of paper is more likely to end up in the trash than a large sheet, even if the quantity is more. Argo explains this:
“When items become damaged, they differ from the ‘prototype’ or ideal version of that product, and as a result, they are perceived as being less useful. As consumers, we tend to equate things that are useless with garbage.”
In a nutshell, human psychology and recycling behaviors are complicated but predictable. Once we know how perception impacts behavior, we can adjust education accordingly.
Incorporating Experiential Learning into
Recycling Initiatives
A report by the World Economic Forum showed that globally 25% of people do not recycle because they don’t know how to participate in recycling programs. This lack of knowledge is one of the most common barriers to recycling. Experiential learning programs can help people start recycling, and by doing, they will gain knowledge and confidence to continue the behavior. Here are a few simple ways individuals and facilities can incorporate experiential learning into their recycling initiatives.
For Individuals
Create interactive displays that explain the importance of recycling and show how to properly sort recyclables.
Host hands-on workshops where participants get an opportunity to make DIY projects out of recycled materials or compost their own food waste. Local community centers are great places to conduct these activities.
Organize recycling challenges that encourage participants to recycle more (or better). For example, a challenge to reduce waste output by a certain percentage.
Support community projects that encourage sustainable waste practices, like community gardens, city composting programs, donation services, and charity organizations.
For Facilities
Organize activities to sort different types of materials via hands-on training programs or interactive workshops. Implementing a smart recycling bin like TrashBot can help eliminate recycling contamination and educate users about sorting.
Conduct regular waste audits to identify areas where waste can be reduced, like cutting down on or reusing packaging. TrashBot can provide facilities with on-demand waste audits and analytics on their waste stream.
Prioritize recycling education byprovidingemployees and visitors with ways to learn about recycling and waste reduction. Hosting recycling competitionsbetween different departments (or teams) can also encourage better recycling behaviors.
Experiential Learning Success Stories
Experiential learning is not an entirely new concept. It’s currently being practiced in several companies, including the Port of Portland, Oregon, to improve recycling behaviors among its employees. The port’s sustainability program, PDX Green, has implemented initiatives to promote sustainable practices. A few examples include:
Recycling tours to recycling facilities for interested employees where they see how recyclables are sorted and processed firsthand.
An annual recycling Olympics where employees compete in games and challenges related to recycling and waste reduction.
Green teams formed to promote sustainable recycling behaviors.
Composting programs to reduce food waste at the port’s restaurants and cafes.
To expedite recycling in the US, states like South Carolina are moving towards using experiential learning in recycling. The Market Development team at the S.C. Department of Commerce is partnering with the S.C. Office of Career Services to provide recycling industry-focused experiential learning to students in order to support the recycling industry. It was designed to help students gain hands-on experience in a professional workplace setting and encourage them to think outside the box. Initiatives like this are an excellent way to support the growing recycling industry and help people start a career in the sector.
Leveraging Experiential Learning to Improve
Recycling
Recycling is more than a choice. It’s a necessity and something that should become a part of our daily routine. While it seems simple, recycling can be difficult to achieve consistently. The rules and regulations vary widely, only certain materials can be recycled in specific forms, and recycling contamination still remains an issue.
Experiential learning could be the key to recycling education for any individual. Proponents of experiential learning say that individuals are more motivated to learn when they have a personal stake in the subject. Learning by doing and reflecting on the doing is the best way to see and experience how your actions make an impact.
On the other hand, sorting recyclables is about more than just recycling; it’s about practicing ways to reduce waste. Sorting our trash makes us wonder what we can reuse, repurpose, or put to better use. Alongside recycling education, experiential learning helps us appreciate that our actions make a difference.
As the issues of smart waste management and recycling have become increasingly pressing, so has the need to find innovative recycling solutions. AI automation has improved many of our systems, so the question is, can AI help save a failing recycling system?
Despite the efforts of individuals, businesses, and governments to reduce waste and boost recycling, the recycling industry struggles with many challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) can solve these problems, from inefficient sorting to analytics and awareness. We can expect improved waste sorting, real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and more from AI.
The State of Recycling Today
Did you know that plastic was first invented in 1907 by a Belgian chemist, Leo Baekeland, but plastic recycling didn’t start until 1970?
Starting in the 1990s, more than half of the plastic waste from wealthier countries was being exported to lower-income countries for processing and recycling. Most of these plastics (95 percent collected in the EU) went to China. Then, in 2018, China implemented a policy to limit materials it would accept for recycling.
China’s ban on importing waste has resulted in a surplus of recyclables in the US and other countries. Since waste management has become more expensive, there’s an increased focus on domestic recycling and an emphasis on reducing the waste produced and finding more sustainable solutions.
Challenges of the Recycling System
Manual Sorting and Inefficient Processing
Currently, most recycling facilities rely on manual labor to sort the waste stream and separate recyclables from non-recyclable materials. Manual sorting is not just time-consuming but also prone to human error. Human workers often make mistakes when separating recyclables from non-recyclables, which lowers the quality of recyclable materials. In addition, manual sorting is a dirty, dull, and often underpaid job.
Lack of Public Participation
Many people still don’t know what materials can be recycled or how to recycle them properly, resulting in a significant loss of valuable circular materials. Despite current efforts, recycling education needs more widespread support.
Limited Recycling Capabilities
Since China’s ban, the need for recycling facilities has been more critical. However, many regions lack recycling infrastructure, meaning that recyclables must be transported long distances to be processed. This increases recycling costs, reduces efficiency, and leaves a significant carbon footprint. Our current recovery system simply can’t keep up with the volume of new products and subsequent waste produced.
AI’s Contributions to Recycling
Improved Sorting Methods
AI-powered robots can sort recyclables from non-recyclables faster and more efficiently, solving the challenges of manual sorting. A human worker sorts 30 to 40 items per minute, while AI-powered machines can sort as fast as 160 items per minute without a decline in quality over time. Innovative recycling methods harnessing the power of AI can use features like computer vision to identify any contamination present in waste items, further reducing the margin of error in sorting. Autonomous recycling bins like TrashBot also eliminate contamination at the source by sorting waste when it is thrown away.
Real-Time Monitoring and Analysis
AI can help material recycling facilities (MRFs) monitor their performance in real-time, predict equipment that is likely to fail, and identify areas of improvement. Facilities, in turn, can improve the efficiency of their operation and reduce downtime.
Over time, AI can analyze data and predict needs and changes in the waste stream. Armed with the intelligence that AI can provide, communities will be able to plan and optimize waste collection and management.
Increased Public Awareness
AI can design educational outreach programs that will inform the public about recycling. It also has the potential to increase public perception and improve the overall quality of recycling programs. Innovative recycling bins like TrashBot have built-in screens and content management systems that can help educate the audience by showing content relevant to recycling and reflecting current waste trends.
SupportingAI Automation
While recycling is a relatively new concept, reuse and repurposing are centuries old. Matanya Horowitz, founder and CEO of AMP Robotics, envisions using AI to leverage the full value of waste products. When the Plains Indians killed a cow, he says, they didn’t just eat the meat and throw the rest away. Instead, they would utilize every part of a buffalo they killed. Horowitz says:
“You have all this material that society produces—plastic bottles, pieces of wood, drywall—and people pay for it, but then somehow it has no value once it’s in the dumpster. Why aren’t we using every part of buffalo?”
AI automation has the potential to help to save a failing recycling system and revolutionize waste management. It can drive positive perceptions and create a more sustainable future by improving recycling practices and the efficacy of the overall system. Supporting AI automation can boost systems along the entire waste stream.
When you know that recycling helps reduce GHG emissions, it can be surprising that faulty recycling can also contribute to GHG emissions and harm the planet. Most Americans agree on recycling’s importance. The circular economy stresses the reusability of products, but at the current rate, it’s not complete without recycling.
This article will discuss the reasons behind recycling failure, its effect on landfills, and the environmental impact of higher recycling rates.
Current Recycling Rates and Reasons for Recycling Failure
A non-profit group, Project Drawdown, conducted reviews of climate solutions, including recycling to reduce landfill emissions. After analyzing more than 80 different methods that could help the world against climate change, the recycling industry fell below the median. To make a true impact via recycling, it needs to be more effective.
There are many reasons why recycling isn’t working, despite the efforts. One primary reason is a lack of education. In a recent survey by Republic Services, 88% percent of the participants said that recycling is important, but nearly all failed the basic recycling quiz.
Another essential part of recycling is sorting, which is a complex procedure. People often mix recyclables with non-recyclables, leading to contamination of the entire stream.
Even if people recycle with good intentions, wishcycling can result in lower recycling rates. Wishcycling, or mixing recyclables with non-recyclables hoping they will get recycled, causes recycling contamination, which reduces the quality of the materials, and most (or all) of them end up in landfills.
Inadequate recycling facilities and infrastructure also make it harder to recycle. On the other hand, a constant influx of hard-to-manage materials makes it difficult for recycling facilities with aging infrastructure to manage the waste stream. It’s also economically feasible for facilities to opt for landfilling or incineration. Proper regulations and support from local governments can sort this issue and make recycling a reality for communities.
Landfills and the Environment
Landfills, or dumps, are places where materials are disposed. They’re generally divided into three categories: municipal solid waste landfills, industrial waste landfills, and hazardous waste landfills. Landfills are a major contributor to climate change and bring about hazards like toxins, leachates, and greenhouse gases.
Waste materials in landfills often contain toxin substances. Over time, the toxins leach into the soil and contaminate groundwater, becoming an environmental hazard. The liquid formed during the waste breakdown is also highly toxic and can pollute the land, waterways, and groundwater.
However, the largest environmental threat is greenhouse gases (GHG). When green waste and food scraps break down inside the landfills, they produce methane — a greenhouse gas nearly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). Concentrated methane is also highly flammable, making the landfill site a potential fire hazard.
How Much Emissions Currently Come from Landfills
It is estimated that one million metric tons of waste landfilled produces about 274,000 tons of CO2-equivalent. The EPA reports that MSW landfills are responsible for nearly 14.5 percent of human-related methane emissions in the United States. After settling in a landfill, the MSW undergoes an aerobic (oxygenated) decomposition stage, as methane is generated in small amounts. Typically, anaerobic conditions are established within a year, and methane-producing bacteria start decomposing waste and generating methane in the process.
How Successful Recycling Can Reduce Landfill Emissions
The EPA estimates that nearly 75% of landfill waste is recyclable. Any waste diversion techniques are important, and reduction, recycling, reuse, and composting can all help ease the burden on landfills. Project Drawdown’s list of climate solutions focuses on strategies that are feasible to adopt and have room for growth within the existing market. Recycling presents much room for growth, as it’s the best way to convert waste into reusable products. Currently, nine-tenths of all solid waste in the US does not get recycled. Recycling lowers the amount of waste going into landfills, conserves energy, and creates new jobs within the recycling and manufacturing industries.
The Environmental Impacts of Higher Recycling Rates
Recycling is among the few climate-friendly practices that can reduce carbon or landfill emissions and benefit the environment. Positive environmental impacts of recycling include:
• Energy conservation • Reduced greenhouse gas emissions • Protection of natural resources • Reduced landfilling • Jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries • Lower pollution levels and less litter • Effective waste management and improved public health
It’s important to acknowledge that even committed recycling is not the solution and has clear limits. However, despite the carbon footprint of collecting, transporting, and processing, recycling is still less energy-intensive and one of our best options for reducing landfill volume.
Recycling technologies like TrashBot can help facilities avoid recycling contamination by sorting waste at the time of disposal. Recycling education is also vital – learning what you can and can’t recycle and paying attention to your waste disposal can reduce recycling contamination and make recycling more effective.
Bringing about change is a process that requires dedication and support. Recycling is a system that has been around for decades, and it remains the best way to manage circular materials at the end of their lives. Poor recycling wastes money, resources, and energy and will only increase emissions as landfills continue to fill up. Implementing government policies and regulations to incentivize recycling and improve recycling infrastructure and processing can lead to higher recycling rates, reduced landfill emissions, and a healthier planet.
CleanRobotics Launches New Interactive Content Feature for TrashBot
LONGMONT, CO.–Recycling tech startup CleanRobotics announces new features in its autonomous waste-sorting bin, TrashBot, that will enable it to deliver custom content in response to users throwing away waste.
TrashBot revolutionizes the recycling process by sorting waste at the point of disposal using AI and driving user engagement around waste diversion and recycling. TrashBot also collects high-quality data on every piece of waste deposited and provides on-demand, cloud-based waste audits. TrashBot has proven to be an excellent solution for high-traffic areas where improper sorting and excessive contamination have been considerable obstacles to successful recycling and composting.
With its newest feature, TrashBot will be able to display custom educational content based on disposed items and respond to users with feedback in real time. Once TrashBot sorts the waste item into the correct bin inside, the user will get a helpful tip based on the item they just threw away, acknowledging the completion of the process and providing education. Using TrashBot’s waste data, the CleanRobotics team will continue to develop relevant educational content reflecting the trends of its host facility.
“One of the more compelling aspects of TrashBot’s tech is its AI-based sorting algorithm, which correctly identifies objects at the point of disposal, leading to 95% stream accuracy. With the introduction of our new interactive content feature, the TrashBot’s AI system has gotten just a bit smarter,” says CleanRobotics’ Senior Director of Software and AI, Richard Galvez, PhD. “With this feature, TrashBot can now react to the precise item disposed and educate users on context-specific tips related to the detected item. For example, although identifying plastic bottles and diverting them from landfill is great enough, the TrashBot’s AI can now also advise the user to empty out water from their plastic bottles before disposal so they can be properly recycled.”
CleanRobotics believes that lack of public education presents a significant barrier to recycling and has invested substantial effort into ensuring TrashBot is easy to use and drives more behavior change. By deploying TrashBot units nationwide in airports, hospitals, and stadiums, the company projects TrashBots can educate millions of visitors over time, foster a sense of environmental responsibility, and encourage actions to support a circular future.
“TrashBot’s new dynamic content feature will expand the reach of the education provided by creating a more engaging environment for the user. Our customers will now be able to leverage this engagement of their facility population by helping users understand where their waste is going and how it affects the waste management system and our environment,” says Alexandra Niesen, Associate Director of Customer Success for CleanRobotics. “As we continue to track unique patterns through our customer’s waste data, we can utilize dynamic content to change the way the world thinks about trash and how we throw it away.”
A mission-driven company combining recycling AI, robotics, computer vision, and machine learning, CleanRobotics brings new life to recycling programs and the circular economy. The CleanRobotics team is driven by the core belief that sorting waste accurately at the source is the best way to ensure recyclables and other recoverable materials are diverted from landfills, driving substantial environmental impact. CleanRobotics’ mission ensures the effectiveness of recycling programs at high-traffic facilities while securing the ROI of such programs.
To learn more about TrashBot, visit https://cleanrobotics.com/dynamic-content/
Do you know that nearly 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted every year, according to the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program)? An estimated 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with unconsumed food. Moreover, the need to reduce food waste is becoming a pressing issue, as world hunger has risen significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
This article will discuss the importance of composting food waste and what it can do for a facility’s sustainability and smart waste management.
The Importance of Composting Food Waste
Over the years, using compost or organic fertilizers in agriculture was replaced by the overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This dependence gave rise to several issues, including soil deterioration, excess or deficiency of specific nutrients, insect outbreaks, and soil solidification. In addition, our food system and daily food habits inevitably produce a high amount of waste, such as food scraps and leftover food. To effectively manage food waste and combat soil issues, we must leverage the value of the organic waste we produce.
Composting and the Waste Hierarchy
The waste management hierarchy is a framework that ranks various waste management techniques based on their impact on the environment and human health. Represented as a pyramid-like structure, the hierarchy shows the best waste management technique on top (reduction) and the least preferred one (disposal) near the bottom. The five levels in the waste management hierarchy are:
Composting food waste is an essential part of the waste hierarchy because it not only diverts waste from landfills and recovers valuable materials but also benefits the waste management system. Organic waste is more manageable than other materials like paper, plastic, and glass. There are multiple ways to deal with organic waste that make it possible to avoid the disposal stage altogether, and the best method is composting.
Proper composting also minimizes our dependence on chemical fertilizers while improving soil fertility and water retention. Smart waste management through composting programs is a no-brainer for facilities.
How Composting Helps Food Waste Reduction Initiatives
A study by the food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reports that nearly one-third of the food produced globally is wasted. Composting helps food waste reduction initiatives by converting organic food waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Food waste instead becomes a valuable asset to our agricultural lands and gardens. Compost also helps improve soil fertility and health and reduces water consumption and the need for chemical fertilizers.
Additionally, composting helps reduce the amount of food waste in landfills. When food waste decomposes in landfills, it produces methane — a potent greenhouse gas. Composting diverts food waste from landfills, reducing the amount of methane gas.
Composting As Part of a Facility’s Waste Diversion
Composting can help a facility’s waste diversion efforts by preventing organic waste like food scraps and paper products from ending up in landfills.
On the other hand, improper waste sorting can make composting difficult or even impossible for facilities. It gives rise to excessive contamination, which makes it difficult to recycle or compost effectively. Composting food waste can help facilities divert a significant amount of waste and reduce their overall carbon footprint. Facilities can also achieve more circularity by using the compost they produce in landscaping and gardening, and they can leverage composting programs to educate their visitors about food waste.
Smart waste management technology like TrashBot can help facilities reduce waste contamination and replace landfill materials with compostable ones. A pilot case study revealed that TrashBot helped a Los Angeles hospital reduce contamination within their recycling and compost streams by 95% and brought the diversion rates up to 50% by introducing compostable alternatives.
Composting and the Environment
The UNEP wildlife Chief, Doreen Robinson, says:
“Our relationship with nature is unbalanced. Humans are always taking and discarding, and nature is continuously giving more. We need to apply circular thinking in which life is sustained and things are continuously repurposed.” — Doreen Robinson
To achieve a circular economy and drive widespread change, we must follow the waste hierarchy and consider how we can prevent, reuse, recycle, or recover materials before discarding them.
Composting food waste is a highly underrated yet integral part of smart waste management. It also offers considerable environmental impacts. It minimizes food waste, leading to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It also makes facilities and urban areas more resilient to the effects of climate change. Composting can cut down on the water needed to grow food and improve soil health. Through implementing composting programs, facilities can improve their diversion, reduce their footprint, and get closer to achieving smart waste management.
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