Until now, determining what exactly is in the vast mess of garbage that arrives at recycling plants has been a dirty and difficult job. Now, companies such as AMP Robotics, Machinex, Recycleye and a California-based startup called EverestLabs are using AI and robotics to do just that. "Because of AI, because of the robotic arms, we have seen plants recover 10, 20, 30% more than what they have been doing previously," said JD Ambati, CEO of EverestLabs. "They have been losing millions of dollars to the landfill, and because of AI, they were able to identify the value of the losses and deploy robotic arms to capture that." Add to that robotic arms, which he says recover the packaging three to four times more effectively than humans.

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Persons: Ambati, Tom Outerbridge, Lisa Rizzolo Organizations: AMP Robotics, Labor, SMR, Translink Capital, NEC, Future, Sierra Ventures, Morado Ventures, Xplorer, CNBC Locations: California