For a company like Amazon, reducing the waste associated with its shipping practices starts with visibility. According to Amazon, its massive e-commerce operations generated more than 200 million pounds of single-use plastic in 2021 — with other groups estimating that figure may be, realistically, much higher.In an effort to offset the climate impact and move closer to a company-wide net zero goal by the year 2040 Amazon has partnered with a company called Glacier.Glacier is a developer of what it calls “next-generation robotics for recycling,” and the tie-up hopes to guide Amazon through what happens once packages leave its facilities and wind up in consumers’ hands.Glacier primarily offers robotic waste sorting technology but has also expanded into a scanner offering that leverages AI. This approach got Amazon’s attention, with the e-tailer hoping to utilize Glacier’s capabilities to identify over 30 different types of materials — everything from cat food cans to toothpaste tubes. This is all to “develop a picture of what’s happening behind the scenes,” according to Glacier co-founder Areeb Malik.Amazon hopes the AI will provide visibility into whether certain packaging products are winding up in the recycling or destined for the landfill. Glacier says features like these help companies better understand how effective their sustainability initiatives are.For Glacier, the benefit to the partnership takes the form of a big cash investment from Amazon, whose Climate Pledge Fund, in part, led a $7.7 million investment round, injecting some funds into a company that says it hopes to help the recycling industry “create a world without waste.” (ICE TORONTO)

Fonte notizia: https://www.thomasnet.com/