Ai gets picky about recycling: From Coke bottles to flatscreen displays, more of the raw materials from our massing mounds of waste can now be recovered and recycled using AI-driven technologies

CHINA'S Operation National Sword policy initiative curbed the country's imports of most types of solid waste for disposal, and imposed stringent limits on the materials that it will accept for recycling. The policy's ramifications have hugely impacted the many foreign economies that for decades relied on China's materials recovery facilities (MRFs) to deal with the bulk of their recyclable waste materials, from plastics and packaging to glass, metals, and wood.