Gwangju Nam-gu 'AI Collection Machine Innovation' Collects Tens of Tons of Recyclables Annually

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] AI unmanned collection machines installed behind Bigsupo in Juwol-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, at the Wolsan 4-dong Administrative Welfare Center, and in the Street Food Zone have been shown to play a significant role in the collection and recycling of waste resources such as cans and PET bottles.

According to Nam-gu on the 11th, the AI unmanned collection machine is a waste collection facility utilizing artificial intelligence technology. It manages comprehensive data on household waste while providing points to residents who collect recyclable resources through the platform.

It offers 10 points per PET bottle and can, and when points exceed 2,000, they can be redeemed for cash.

Currently, eight AI unmanned collection machines are operating within Nam-gu. Since installing two machines at the plaza behind Bigsupo in Juwol-dong at the end of December 2020, Nam-gu has expanded the system by installing three machines each at the Wolsan 4-dong Administrative Welfare Center and Baegun Plaza Street Food Zone in April and early November this year.

Since the installation of the AI unmanned collection machines, tens of tons of recyclables have been gathered annually within the district.

From the first operation in January last year until the end of October this year, approximately 116 tons of cans and PET bottles were collected within the district, with a total of 5,809,020 cans and PET bottles gathered through the machines.

During this period, about 25.3 tons of cans totaling 1,263,764 units were collected, and 90.9 tons of PET bottles amounting to 4,545,526 units were gathered.

This year, from January to the end of October, 3,300,343 cans and PET bottles were collected, recovering approximately 66 tons.

Additionally, over the past two years, a total of 10,408 residents have returned recyclables through the AI unmanned collection machines. The accumulated points amount to 53,217,130 points, of which 38,957,830 won have been redeemed for cash.

A Nam-gu official stated, “With point and cash rewards for recyclable resources, the recycling collection rate is rapidly increasing. In particular, residents in the district are voluntarily participating in the recycling collection campaign using artificial intelligence technology as part of their daily practices, which holds great significance from an environmental protection perspective.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.