Amazon-backed Glacier gets $16M to expand its robot recycling fleet

The world has a trash problem. The amount of stuff we throw away is expected to nearly double, to 3.8 billion metric tons, by 2050. Reducing what we use would go a long way to addressing the issue, but let’s face it, we’re not very good at buying less either. That leaves recycling, which has its own problems. People routinely try to recycle dirty yogurt cups or toss plastic in the aluminum bin. It all makes recycling more expensive because, ultimately, someone has to manually pick out the unwanted stuff. In response, several companies have been building automated systems to sort recyclables, including Glacier, a six-year-old company that has developed inexpensive robotic arms controlled by computer vision to identify over 30 different types of materials. The startup has deployed its robots in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix, and now Seattle. As Glacier looks to expand its robot fleet to more municipalities, it recently raised a $16 million Series A, the compan ... Read full article.