CANBERRA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Australia's peak science agency has launched a major program aimed at eliminating plastic waste.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) on Monday announced that it will use technology including artificial intelligence (AI) to address the country's plastic waste issues.
Australia generates approximately 67 million tonnes of plastic waste every year.
Denise Hardesty, CSIRO Senior Principal Research Scientist, said on Monday that the agency was working with collaborators through the Plastics Mission to prevent plastics from ending up in the environment.
"Our research is helping to understand the extent of plastic pollution in Australia and globally, and how to reduce it," Hardesty said in a media release.
"Rethinking plastic packaging is just one way of reducing waste, through better design, materials and logistics. We can also transform the way we use, manufacture and recycle plastics by creating new products and more value for plastics."
Solutions under development by the CSIRO include using AI to detect and classify plastic waste in environments.
The project, which is being undertaken in partnership with Microsoft, helps authorities develop waste management strategies by finding where plastics are entering waterways.
"Microsoft artificial intelligence image recognition is underpinning the identification of plastic pollution," Lee Hickin, Microsoft Australia chief technology officer, said.
"By using AI to accelerate the detection and classification of rubbish in our waterways, we can simply react more quickly and work to improve the quality of water faster than if done manually."
The Plastics Missions is one of 12 major research initiatives the CSIRO announced in August to help Australia recover from the coronavirus crisis.
The agency committed 100 million Australian dollars (72.8 million U.S. dollars) per year to the initiatives, which include increasing preparedness for future pandemics, mitigating the impacts of bushfires and overcoming growing microbial resistance to antibiotics. Enditem
