Can This Startup Solve Our Recycling Problems With a New AI-Powered Appliance?

The Washington Post profiles Lasso Loop, the startup behind "a hefty home appliance machine that automatically sorts and breaks down the recyclables you toss inside it," saying the company tackles "a flaw in our waste management systems that many people probably aren't aware of."As it turns out, much of the material we toss into our recycling bins doesn't actually ever get recycled. That's for a whole host of reasons: improperly cleaned materials can contaminate others that would have been recyclable otherwise, and some of the items people might just assume are recyclable - say, plastic cutlery - usually aren't. And ultimately, that means more trips to the landfill.... In its current form, the company's Lasso machine is bigger than a dishwasher but smaller than a fridge, though the team hopes to be able to squeeze the final model under your countertops. What's more interesting is the stuff inside: Lasso growth manager Dominique Leonard said the machine uses a smattering of sensors, cameras and AI to determine whether the stuff you've put inside it can be recycled. (Anything that doesn't pass muster, like certain kinds of plastic, are summarily rejected.) From there, the remaining plastic, glass and metal products are steam cleaned, broken apart - seriously - and stored separately in a series of bins based on type to prevent contamination.... [T]hat sophistication will come at a cost, especially at first. The Lasso team plans to sell its machine for $5,000 - or $3,500 with a prelaunch discount - to start, though it hopes incentives from local governments will help lighten the load on potential customers. The Post adds that Lasso is launching a pilot program with customers in the San Francisco Bay area next year, in which "owners are meant to schedule pickups from a smartphone app" (which summons Lasso subcontractors). The Post also profiled ClearDrop, a startup from Texas businessman Ivan Arbouzov that makes a trash can-sized compactor just for single-use plastic bags:You're meant to feed all of your soft plastics into a slot onto the top of the machine, and once it has had enough - Arbouzov said that usually takes around a month - the Minimizer heats and compresses the bags to form a slightly squishy brick. If your municipality is one of the rare ones that accepts soft plastics, you should be able to toss those bricks into your recycling bin. "If worse comes to worse, you can still take it to Walmart and put it in their box," said Arbouzov. In other words, you're meant to toss your (acceptable) plastics into both machines and move on with your life.

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