Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington has deployed four AI waste-sorting solutions, named Oscar, to help visitors sort their waste items into compost, recycling or trash bins.
Oscar units can be found at SEA Airport in the Central Terminal, the North Concourse, the South Concourse near gate S2, and in the C Concourse near gate C17. The Oscars, from Intuitive AI, are designed to fit existing waste bins. When users walk up to the machine, they place an item in front of a camera for the system to analyze. It then tells the user which bin to use to dispose of the item.
The Oscars are designed to help educate passengers on proper waste sorting, improving recycling and composting diversion from landfill. They are configured to support local sorting requirements and packaging types. These new devices feature interactive AI technology to offer insights into waste management performance and problem items introduced into the system. The Oscar units are designed so their cameras do not capture or store identifying information about users, just the waste items they present for sorting.
“The Port of Seattle strives to reduce waste to landfills and we’re trying innovations like Oscar to build awareness among our customers and gather data on the types of waste we see at SEA and our maritime facilities,”said Sandra Kilroy, senior director of environment and sustainability at the Port of Seattle. “We know that individuals come to our gateways from all around the world and they might have different waste bins or rules, so Oscar will help inform them on how to sort here. At SEA, it supports our goal to divert 60% of terminal waste from landfills.”
According to the port, a 43% successful sorting (or diversion) rate has been accomplished during the initial month. Overall, the mix of disposed waste items is consistent with other large campuses, venues and transportation hubs with large food service operations.
For more key sustainability updates from the passenger terminal industry, click here.