Introducing Recycle Mate
Australia’s first artificial intelligence recycling app
Recycle Mate is Australia’s first community-driven recycling app, which is free to.
Recycle Mate will help remove confusion and make recycling simpler for all Australians
About
The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) is leading the development of a national recycling education program to take the guesswork out of recycling for the community.
10 - 15% of items placed in household recycling bins are not actually recyclable, which results in more waste going to landfill with grave consequences for our environment. By providing alternative recycling options we can reduce the amount going to landfill even more.
Australians have a proven desire to recycle correctly and reduce what goes to landfill, but often feel unsure if they are always getting it right. Many councils across Australia have different recycling systems and the away-from-home recycling options are increasing all the time which is adding to the confusion.
This is where the new Recycle Mate mobile phone app and supporting education program is working to help remove the guesswork, whether at home, at a friend’s house or on holiday. Recycle Mate has comprehensively catalogued each council’s recycling system and non-kerbside disposal options, to provide quick access to localised information to help people recycle wherever they are in Australia.
Recycle Mate will give users the ability to photograph an item or do a word search of an extensive item catalogue to find out where to recycle or dispose of that item either in their local council bin system or elsewhere. Utilising modern image recognition technology, the app is continually learning as community use provides feedback about what they want to know is recyclable.
A prototype app was successfully launched in November 2019 for New South Wales residents for testing and feedback. In 2020 extensive work has been undertaken to develop an advanced version of the app which will roll out nationally from August 2021.
We are now seeking recycling industry and community input!
Get involved
The Recycle Mate team is now encouraging recycling enthusiasts across Australia to get involved in the development. Recycle Soldier is a new function in the Recycle Mate app that allows the community to take and upload photos of items they would like to recycle but are unsure about. Every photo uploaded by a Recycle Soldier provides insight into what the community wants to know about and contributes to improving the app’s ability to detect waste items.
The recycling industry and the community can contribute to the development of this ground-breaking app, by using the Recycle Soldier feature at home, at work or when out-and-about.
It is quick and easy:
Recycle Mate will help remove confusion and make recycling simpler for all Australians
About
The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) is leading the development of a national recycling education program to take the guesswork out of recycling for the community.
10 - 15% of items placed in household recycling bins are not actually recyclable, which results in more waste going to landfill with grave consequences for our environment. By providing alternative recycling options we can reduce the amount going to landfill even more.
Australians have a proven desire to recycle correctly and reduce what goes to landfill, but often feel unsure if they are always getting it right. Many councils across Australia have different recycling systems and the away-from-home recycling options are increasing all the time which is adding to the confusion.
This is where the new Recycle Mate mobile phone app and supporting education program is working to help remove the guesswork, whether at home, at a friend’s house or on holiday. Recycle Mate has comprehensively catalogued each council’s recycling system and non-kerbside disposal options, to provide quick access to localised information to help people recycle wherever they are in Australia.
Recycle Mate will give users the ability to photograph an item or do a word search of an extensive item catalogue to find out where to recycle or dispose of that item either in their local council bin system or elsewhere. Utilising modern image recognition technology, the app is continually learning as community use provides feedback about what they want to know is recyclable.
A prototype app was successfully launched in November 2019 for New South Wales residents for testing and feedback. In 2020 extensive work has been undertaken to develop an advanced version of the app which will roll out nationally from August 2021.
We are now seeking recycling industry and community input!
Get involved
The Recycle Mate team is now encouraging recycling enthusiasts across Australia to get involved in the development. Recycle Soldier is a new function in the Recycle Mate app that allows the community to take and upload photos of items they would like to recycle but are unsure about. Every photo uploaded by a Recycle Soldier provides insight into what the community wants to know about and contributes to improving the app’s ability to detect waste items.
The recycling industry and the community can contribute to the development of this ground-breaking app, by using the Recycle Soldier feature at home, at work or when out-and-about.
It is quick and easy:
- Download Recycle Mate - available on the App Store for iPhones and Google Play for Androids
- Click on ‘Recycle Soldier’
- Hit ‘Let’s go’
- Enter the name of the item you will be taking photos of
- Position the item in the centre of the frame and take a photo or multiple photos from different angles
- Hit ‘Submit photos’