Automatic sorting of waste

1. A method of automatically sorting waste, the method comprising:

receiving a piece of waste;

using a plurality of sensors to determine a plurality of properties associated with the piece of waste, wherein the sensors comprise at least two different sensor types;

by a processor, based on at least one of the properties from at least a first one of the sensors, determining if the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material;

wherein determining if the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material comprises determining that the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material if the processor cannot identify with at least 80% certainty that the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material;

if the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material, depositing the piece of waste in a non-recyclable waste bin;

if the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material, by the processor based on at least a second one of the properties from at least a second one of the sensors, determining if the piece of waste meets or exceeds a recyclability threshold; and

if the piece of waste meets or exceeds the recyclability threshold, depositing the piece of waste into the recyclable waste bin, otherwise depositing the piece of waste in a non-recyclable waste bin.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor types comprise two or more of the following: inductance sensors, capacitance sensors, load sensors, cameras, temperature sensors, infrared light sensors, near-infrared light sensors, spectral measurement devices, audio sensors, capacitive sensors, fluorescence sensors, millimeter-wave radar sensors, and depth cameras.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing the piece of waste in the recyclable waste bin comprises:

identifying the recyclable material; and

based on the recyclable material, selecting the recyclable waste bin from a set of candidate bins that include two or more of the following:

a recyclable plastics bin,

a recyclable paper bin,

a recyclable metal bin,

a recyclable cloth bin,

a recyclable cardboard bin, or

a recyclable glass bin.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first one of the sensors comprises a camera;

using the sensors to determine a properties associated with the piece of waste comprises using the camera to capture a digital image of the piece of waste,

determining if the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material comprises:

processing the digital image to determine whether content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object of a data set of known recyclable objects,

if the content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object, classifying the piece of waste as being formed of a recyclable material, and

if the content of the digital image does not correspond to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object, classifying the piece of waste as being formed of a non-recyclable material.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein processing the digital image to determine whether content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object of the data set of known recyclable objects comprises determining whether the content of the digital image includes one or more of the following:

a logo of a known recyclable object;

text of a product name of a known recyclable object;

a shape of a known recyclable object; or

a color scheme of a known recyclable object.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

classifying the piece of waste as being formed of a recyclable material comprises determining that the type of waste is a liquid container; and

determining if the piece of waste meets or exceeds a recyclability threshold comprises using data received from at least one load sensor to determine whether the liquid container meets or exceeds a weight threshold.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein processing the digital image to determine whether content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object of the data set of known recyclable objects comprises determining whether the content of the digital image includes one or more of the following:

a logo of a known recyclable object, or

text of a product name of a known recyclable object.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first one of the sensors comprises an inductance sensor; and

determining if the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material comprises determining whether the inductance sensor indicates that the piece of waste is metallic.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

classifying the piece of waste as being formed of a recyclable material comprises determining that the type of waste is a metallic food or beverage can; and

determining if the piece of waste meets or exceeds a recyclability threshold comprises using data received from at least one load sensor to determine whether the can meets or exceeds a weight threshold.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

if the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material, depositing the piece of waste in the recyclable waste bin comprises using an actuated sorting department to release the piece of waste to the recyclable waste bin; and

if the piece of waste is formed of a non-recyclable material, depositing the piece of waste in the non-recyclable waste bin comprises using the actuated sorting department to release the piece of waste to the non-recyclable waste bin.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein upon determining that the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material, the method further comprises:

determining whether the piece of waste is a compostable material; and

if the piece of waste is a compostable material, depositing the piece of waste in a non-recyclable waste bin comprises depositing the piece of waste in a compost waste bin; and

if the piece of waste is not a compostable material, depositing the piece of waste in a non-recyclable waste bin comprises depositing the piece of waste in a landfill waste bin.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor types comprise one or more of the following: millimeter-wave radar sensors or depth cameras.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

receiving the piece of waste comprises receiving the piece of waste into an actuated sorting compartment of a waste storage container that includes the recyclable waste bin and the non-recyclable waste bin;

using the sensors to determine the plurality of properties associated with the piece of waste comprises doing so while the piece of waste is within the actuated sorting compartment; and

depositing the waste into the recyclable waste bin or the non-recyclable waste bin comprises actuating the actuated sorting compartment to move the piece of waste into the recyclable waste bin or the non-recyclable waste bin.

14. A waste sorting system, comprising:

a waste sorting compartment;

a plurality of waste bins that include at least a recyclable waste bin and a non-recyclable waste bin;

a plurality of sensors that comprise at least two different sensor types;

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium containing programming instructions that are configured to instruct the processor to:

upon receipt of a piece of waste into the waste sorting compartment, use data detected by the sensors to determine a plurality of properties associated with the piece of waste,

based on at least one of the properties from at least a first one of the sensors, determine whether the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material,

wherein the instructions to determine whether the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material comprises instructions to determine that the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material if the processor cannot identify with at least 80% certainty that the piece of waste as being formed of a recyclable material,

if the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material, cause the waste sorting compartment to deposit the piece of waste into a non-recyclable waste bin,

if the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material, based on at a second one of the properties from at least a second one of the sensors determine whether the piece of waste meets or exceeds a recyclability threshold, and

if the piece of waste meets or exceeds the recyclability threshold, cause the waste sorting compartment to deposit the piece of waste into a recyclable waste bin, otherwise cause the waste sorting compartment to deposit the piece of waste into a non-recyclable waste bin.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the sensor types comprise two or more of the following: inductance sensors, capacitance sensors, load sensors, cameras, temperature sensors, infrared light sensors, near-infrared light sensors, spectral measurement devices, audio sensors, capacitive sensors, fluorescence sensors, millimeter-wave radar sensors, and depth cameras.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions to cause the waste sorting compartment to deposit the piece of waste in the recyclable waste bin comprise instructions to:

identify the recyclable material; and

based on the recyclable material, select the recyclable waste bin from a set of candidate bins that include two or more of the following:

a recyclable plastics bin,

a recyclable paper bin,

a recyclable metal bin,

a recyclable cloth bin,

a recyclable cardboard bin, or

a recyclable glass bin.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein:

the first one of the sensors comprises a camera;

the data detected by the sensors comprises a digital image of the piece of waste; and

the instructions to determine whether the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material comprise instructions to:

process the digital image to determine whether content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object of a data set of known recyclable objects,

if the content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object, classify the piece of waste as being formed of a recyclable material, and

if the content of the digital image does not correspond to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object, classify the piece of waste as being formed of a non-recyclable material.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions to process the digital image to determine whether content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object comprises determining whether the content of the digital image includes one or more of the following:

a logo of a known recyclable object;

text of a product name of a known recyclable object;

a shape of a known recyclable object; or

a color scheme of a known recyclable object.

19. The system of claim 17 , further comprising instructions to, when the system determines that the piece of waste is a liquid container, determine if the piece of waste meets or exceeds a recyclability threshold by using data received from at least one load sensor to determine whether the liquid container meets or exceeds a weight threshold.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions to process the digital image to determine whether content of the digital image corresponds to one or more characteristics of a known recyclable object comprises determining whether the content of the digital image includes one or more of the following:

a logo of a known recyclable object, or

text of a product name of a known recyclable object.

21. The system of claim 14 , wherein:

the first one of the sensors comprises an inductance sensor; and

the instructions to use the plurality of sensors to determine whether the piece of waste is formed of a recyclable material comprise instructions to determine whether the inductance sensor indicates that the piece of waste is metallic.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein, when the system determines that the type of waste is a metallic food or beverage can, the instructions to determine whether the piece of waste meets or exceeds a recyclability threshold comprise instructions to use data received from at least one load sensor to determine whether the can meets or exceeds a weight threshold.

23. The system of claim 14 , further comprising additional instructions to, upon determining that the piece of waste is not formed of a recyclable material:

determine whether the piece of waste is a compostable material; and

if the piece of waste is a compostable material, deposit the piece of waste in a non-recyclable waste bin that is a compost waste bin; and

if the piece of waste is not a compostable material, deposit the piece of waste in a non-recyclable waste bin that is a landfill waste bin.

24. The system of claim 14 , wherein the sensor types comprise one or more of the following: millimeter-wave radar sensors or depth cameras.

25. The system of claim 14 , wherein the waste sorting compartment is an actuated sorting compartment that is configured to move the piece of waste into the recyclable waste bin or the non-recyclable waste bin.