CU-Recycle is a community-focused consumer resource recycling initiative designed to promote the civic application of proper recycling practices. Ultimately our objective is to remove uncertainty regarding accurate recycling behavior and discourage and prevent poor practices that depress the operational capabilities of relevant facilities.
Only roughly 35% of recyclable materials are accurately identified and sent to the correct facilities in the USA. In Chicago, that number drops to almost 9%. Furthermore, incorrect materials being recycled led to nearly half of recycled goods being ultimately wasted. According to the EPA, uncertainty regarding what is usable was a major factor in depressing successful recycling rates. The objective of our Android application is to automatically identify whether a certain object is recyclable in accordance to the local municipal regulations to resolve these human capital issues within the system. Our ambition is to remove the formerly mentioned roadblocks to promote environmentally friendly and industry supportive habits.
Currently, we are in the works of developing an android application and the relevant systems with a focus and prioritization on the Champaign-Urbana area. We have created and trained a convolutional neural network to determine whether or not an object is recyclable or not according to the relevant local regulations. When a user takes a picture, our models determine whether or not the item is recyclable on our server to ensure expediency and accuracy. The server then returns the information nearly instantaneously back to the original phone where the results are displayed to positively assist our user.
We sincerely hope that our efforts to promote and enable every CU citizen's responsibility to protect the environment results in aggregate benefits. Every member of our community has incredible potential to effect positive change as an individual within the collective of our localities. With the aid of our new technology, Champaign-Urbana has the potential to become the new pioneer of excellent recycling practices within the state of Illinois.