As landfills across the U.S. near capacity, innovators are utilizing technology to clean up the waste stream.

Cary Council Member Jennifer Robinson joined the “Waste to Advanced Resources Matter” workshop at NC State Wednesday and expressed concern about the town’s landfill, expected to reach capacity by 2045.

“Municipalities are looking for those game changer technologies that can really help us divert more material and one of the biggest game changers that’s on the horizon right now is this idea of using artificial intelligence,” Robinson said.

NC State biomaterials professor Lokendra Pal is developing an AI conveyor belt that can identify various types of waste in real time, enabling advanced automation and more efficient sorting.

The technology can also recognize contaminated items to prevent cross-contamination on recyclables.

“If you have a paper plate that’s covered 90% in food, that might go to a food waste stream, while plates with 10% or less could go to a paper waste stream to be recycled,” Pal said.

He hopes developing AI models could make recycling more lucrative and prevent non-recyclable items from clogging up the system.

“We have a long way to go to optimize, recycle everything that can be recycled, and then convert anything that cannot be recycled into renewable products and fuel,” said Elizabeth Burrows, technology manager at the Bioenergy Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.