Airport recycling bins just got 3x smarter
TrashBot sorts waste automatically at the point of disposal
✓ Recycle more ✓ Educate the public ✓ Improve custodial ops.
Airports are dealing with more waste than ever
Waste management and airport recycling are extremely challenging. Recycling rules are often complex and vary based on location, which results in user confusion when throwing items away. In facilities with transient populations, this leads to large-scale contamination, low recycling yields, and poor diversion.
Fortunately, approximately 75 percent of the waste stream at airports is recyclable or compostable.* With the right systems in place, airports can manage their waste effectively.
*ICAO: Waste Management at Airports
Airport waste by the numbers
674 million passengers passed through U.S. airports in 2021.* Seattle-Tacoma International Airport generated 9,200 tons of waste in 2015. Of that, 70 percent of the waste came from terminal and remote areas, and more than one-third of the waste generated in the terminals was food waste. A study by the NRDC reported that through recycling, SeaTac began saving approximately $178,000 a year—and the savings increased as the program continued.
Airports face a harsh reality: As airlines fly more people, environmental impacts will only continue to grow.
*Bureau of Transportation Statistics
TrashBot’s smart recycling technology:
An innovative solution for airports
TrashBot is an airport recycling bin that sorts waste at the point of disposal. Using robotics, computer vision, and machine learning, TrashBot identifies and sorts items into their corresponding bins inside the system. By eliminating errors in the users’ decision-making process, we’re able to recover circular materials with 95% accuracy.
TrashBot is particularly suited for airport environments, where travelers are in a hurry and dispose of waste without a second thought.
- Higher Diversion Rates
- Cost-Effective Recycling
- User Airport Recycling Education
- Positive Environmental Impact
- Composting
TrashBot:
- Sorts 2-4 streams of waste
- Automates waste data and analytics
- Features 55” screen for education or ads
- Sends fullness notifications
- Requires no WiFi
Airports:
- Reduce landfill waste
- Save by recycling more
- Leverage user education
- Improve custodial efficiency
- Make data-driven decisions
TrashBot’s impact at one of the busiest airports in the world*
TrashBot was implemented for a 13-week test period at one of the largest airports by land area in the United States. According to our case study, TrashBot sorted nearly 2,500 waste items with 96% accuracy and abated 307 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Using the test data, we projected the impact of 40 TrashBots in just one terminal over the course of a year could result in the diversion of 417 tons of recyclables and the abatement of 1,111 MTCO2e (equal to taking 222 cars off the road for a year)!
*Top 5 busiest airports by passenger traffic in the world and one of the largest airports by land area in the US.