According to the World Bank, approximately 2.24 billion tonnes of solid waste were generated in 2020, with projections indicating a 73% increase to 3.88 billion tonnes by 2050.

Plastic waste is a significant concern, with research from the Universities of Georgia and California revealing that over 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste was produced between the 1950s and 2015.

Training AI systems to recognize and classify various forms of rubbish, such as crumpled and dirty items like a discarded Coke bottle, remains a challenging task due to the complexity of waste conditions.

Mikela Druckman, the founder of Greyparrot, a UK start-up focused on waste analysis, is well aware of these staggering statistics. Greyparrot utilizes AI technology and cameras to analyze waste processing and recycling facilities, monitoring around 50 sites in Europe and tracking 32 billion waste objects per year.

"It is allowing regulators to have a much better understanding of what's happening with the material, what materials are problematic, and it is also influencing packaging design," says Ms Druckman.

"We talk about climate change and waste management as separate things, but actually they are interlinked because most of the reasons why we are using resources is because we're not actually recovering them.

"If we had stricter rules that change the way we consume, and how we design packaging, that has a very big impact on the value chain and how we are using resource."

Troy Swope, CEO of Footprint, is dedicated to developing better packaging solutions and has collaborated with supermarkets and companies like Gillette to replace plastic trays with plant-based fiber alternatives.

Swope criticizes the "myth of recycling" in a blog post, arguing that single-use plastic is more likely to end up in landfills than to be recycled. He advocates for reducing dependence on plastic altogether to resolve the plastic crisis.

"It's less likely than ever that their discarded single-use plastic ends up anywhere but a landfill," wrote Mr Swope. "The only way out of the plastics crisis is to stop depending on it in the first place."

 

So-called greenwashing is a big problem, says Ms Druckman. "We've seen a lot of claims about eco or green packaging, but sometimes they are not backed up with real fact, and can be very confusing for the consumer."

Polytag, a UK-based company, tackles this issue by applying ultraviolet (UV) tags to plastic bottles, enabling verification of recycling through a cloud-based app. Polytag has collaborated with UK retailers Co-Op and Ocado to provide transparency and accurate recycling data.

In an effort to promote recycling and encourage participation, the UK government, along with administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland, plans to introduce a deposit return scheme in 2025. This scheme will involve "reverse vending machines" where people can deposit used plastic bottles and metal cans in exchange for a monetary reward.

However, the challenge of finding eco-friendly waste disposal methods continues to persist, as new issues arise each year. The rising popularity of e-cigarettes and vapes has resulted in a significant amount of electronic waste that is difficult to recycle.

Disposable single-use vapes, composed of various materials including plastics, metals, and lithium batteries, pose a challenge to the circular economy. Research suggests that 1.3 million vapes are discarded per week in the UK alone, leading to a substantial amount of lithium ending up in landfills.

Ray Parmenter, head of policy and technical at the Chartered Institute of Waste Management, emphasizes the importance of maximizing the use of critical raw materials like lithium.

"The way we get these critical raw materials like lithium is from deep mines - not the easiest places to get to. So once we've got it out, we need to make the most of it," says Mr Parmenter.

Mikela Druckman highlights the need for a shift in thinking, she added  "It doesn't make economic sense, it doesn't make any sense. Rather than ask how do we recycle them, ask why we have single-use vapes in the first place?"

In conclusion, addressing the growing waste crisis requires collaborative efforts from industries, policymakers, and consumers, with a focus on sustainable packaging, improved recycling practices, and reduced consumption.