Unilever Partners with Alibaba to Launch AI-Powered Plastics Recycling Machine

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): London-headquartered consumer goods company Unilever, in partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced launch of a new recycling machine that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify and sort plastic packaging. The initiative named ‘Waste Free World’ is the first of its kind that ensures useful recovery of high grade plastics.

As part of the initiative, a total of 20 such recycling machines have already been installed in offices and community spaces around Shanghai and Hangzhou. During the course of the current year, it plans to launch additional 500 deposit machines, which will be mainly located around the Shanghai and Hangzhou areas itself. These deposit machines are expected to collect up to 500 tonnes of plastic per year, by accepting Unilever Coupons and Alipay rewards.

The customers will just need to scan a QR code on the bottle, which they plan to deposit in the machine. The machine will use AI technology to identify the type of plastic and sort them accordingly. The recycled plastic granules will be used by Unilever in packaging future Unilever products.

Rohit Jawa, executive vice president of North Asia, Unilever hoped that the joint venture project will become the green engine of the circular economy for plastic packaging in China.

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