It’s a simple question people ask themselves every day – can I recycle this? A University of Georgia graduate and her team of engineers hope to provide the answers for everyone.

Alumna Katherine Shayne has developed a system to educate consumers on what can or cannot be recycled in their area and how to do it properly. Can I Recycle This (CIRT) aims to provide prompt localized answers to specific recycling questions.

“We created a way for consumers to find out easily about the end of life of their products through social media and artificial intelligence,” Shayne said. “You can take a picture of anything you have a question about, send it to us on Facebook, Twitter or ask Amazon Alexa and we can give you an immediate response based on where you are.” The messaging

For example, if you send a picture of a Coca-Cola bottle and your location to @CanIRecycleThis on Twitter, the system will process the item within its database. To someone in Athens-Clarke County the response would be yes, it can be recycled in Athens – empty and with the cap screwed on. A Lay’s potato chip bag? No, because it’s actually a mixed material. An Edy’s ice cream container? Not recyclable. Starbucks plastic drink cup and lid? Recyclable.

All of the platforms are branded with a “Green Girl” avatar and the simple question – Can I Recycle This?

“We want people to identify with the brand so if they ever think they don’t know what to do with this item, they instantly think ‘Can I Recycle This?’” Shayne said. “It’s something you remember hopefully and go directly to when you have a question about something.”

The CIRT team’s roots are in the College of Engineering, New Materials Research Institute and Center for Circular Materials Management at UGA. Shayne’s partner is research engineer Kathryn Youngblood and advisors are Jambeck and April Crow, the former vice president of sustainability at Coca-Cola. Current UGA students Hannah Meise (a senior in environmental engineering) and Jessica Mitchell (a freshman in geology) also serve on the team that’s gaining traction in the waste media world.

“It is really exciting to see ideas from our research group be put into practice as a company and to have a former student be so successful at running it,” Jambeck said.

CIRT is partnering with communities such as Athens-Clarke County to create an extensive database and artificial intelligence to provide immediate and accurate answers to citizens in those communities. The goal is to use education to reduce contamination that costs cities money when they have to take it to landfills.

“That’s our hope, to see more material diverted from landfills,” Shayne said. “But we want to see that those materials are the right ones and that they’re clean and they have value. Plastics are durable, last for we-don’t-even-know-how long and they should not be used one time and thrown away. Focusing on their circularity, they should be recycled back into the system for future use and reuse.

This article is available in full at the College of Engineering website.