Intuitive AI explores how Oscar Sort is revolutionising waste diversion by improving efficiency, recovering valuable materials, and paving the way for a more sustainable future.
Oscar Sort, the AI Recycling Assistant from Intuitive AI, is proving that tackling the waste crisis begins at the bin.
The global waste crisis is at a tipping point. Overflowing landfills, wasted resources, and environmental damage are all symptoms of a deeper issue: insufficient material recovery and unsustainable disposal habits.
While circularity has grown into a $10 trillion industry, public trust in recycling practices has reached an all-time low.
Addressing the challenges surrounding circularity requires more than just improved systems, it demands a fundamental shift in how people perceive and interact with waste.
This is where Intuitive AI stands out. With a vision for a zero-waste world, they leverage the combined power of artificial intelligence and behavioral science to rebuild trust in the recycling process and reshape waste disposal behaviors.
At the heart of this mission is Oscar Sort, an AI Recycling Assistant designed to nudge, educate, and even entertain users, turning waste disposal into a thoughtful and engaging process.
Since its launch in 2017, Oscar has been building a compelling case for change by demonstrating a groundbreaking idea: solving the waste crisis starts at the bin.
This case study explores how Oscar Sort is making waste diversion more effective and meaningful while helping to recover valuable materials for a sustainable future.
Introducing Oscar Sort
Oscar Sort is the world’s first AI Recycling Assistant, enhancing recycling accuracy up to 96%, increasing diversion rates, and reducing CO2 emissions.
With a presence in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia, Oscar Sort drives zero waste at Fortune 500 companies, universities, airports, media companies, and leading sports and entertainment venues.
But how does it work? Simply show your item to Oscar, and it will instantly guide you to the correct disposal bin, making sustainability effortless and engaging.
Designed with Privacy First principles, Oscar is dedicated exclusively to material identification for waste sorting and adheres to strict standards like GDPR, ensuring no personal data is processed or stored.
But Oscar is more than just a recycling assistant – it’s a powerful platform for consumer engagement.
With an interactive display featuring customisable digital signage, videos, QR codes, trivia, and promotional offers, Oscar transforms recycling into a dynamic opportunity for creating memorable brand interactions right at the bin.
The Experiment: Changing Behavior with Oscar Sort
Oscar Sort is a bold experiment in rethinking how people approach waste disposal. Unlike traditional bins that passively collect trash, Oscar actively engages users by combining AI with interactive features like trivia games and rewards.
This real-time interaction provides immediate feedback, making sustainable habits enjoyable and increasing the likelihood of repetition.
The goal is simple yet transformative: educate and engage users to improve sorting accuracy and reduce contamination. By achieving this, Oscar ensures more “clean streams” of materials can be recovered and reintroduced into the supply chain.
Key features include promoting reusables, helping sites optimise composting and recycling through Oscar Analytics, and finding innovative ways to captivate users while generating revenue with limited-time offers and rewards.
Oscar’s Impact: Engagement Insights
Intuitive AI’s deployment of Oscar Sort has produced powerful data-driven insights. Here are three standout findings from a study conducted at partner sites:
Up to 96% Sorting Accuracy
Before Oscar Sort, many properties struggled with sorting accuracy rates as low as 30%, resulting in high contamination levels and wasted resources.
With Oscar Sort’s AI-driven “nudging”, sorting accuracy has soared to as high as 96%. This improvement significantly enhances recycling efficiency while reducing contamination fees and operational costs.
12x Increase in Engagement
Traditional waste bins rarely capture users’ attention, leading to disengaged and often incorrect disposal habits. Oscar Sort changes this by creating an engaging experience that encourages thoughtful participation:
- 7-10 seconds: Sorting an item.
- 34-45 seconds: Playing a game or trivia.
- 63-80 seconds: Winning rewards.
Users are collectively spending millions of seconds at Oscar Sort bins – often over two minutes per interaction – immersed in learning about proper waste disposal.
This unmatched level of engagement makes Oscar not just a recycling tool but the most effective solution for driving meaningful behavior change in waste management today.
78% Scan-Through Rate & 91% Purchase Rate
Oscar Sort’s integration of AI with marketing opens new avenues for engagement. With a scan-through rate of 78%, users interact not only with the recycling technology but also with branded content.
Additionally, a 91% purchase rate highlights how sustainability messaging drives meaningful connections between brands and consumers.
What Oscar Tells Us: Behavior Change is Key to Sustainability
Oscar Sort is more than a waste management tool – it’s a catalyst for behavior change and a driving force in advancing sustainability goals.
By integrating AI with evidence-based research, Oscar Sort consistently delivers remarkable results, including improved sorting accuracy, increased user engagement, and new revenue opportunities for organisations.
The success of Oscar Sort highlights the transformative potential of AI in creating large-scale impact. Intuitive AI is dedicated to expanding this influence by:
- Scaling deployments: Expanding Oscar Sort’s presence in high-traffic spaces like universities, stadiums, and airports to engage more individuals and divert greater volumes of waste.
- Enhancing data analytics: Delivering smarter, data-driven insights for the waste management industry.
- Collaborating with leading brands: Growing partnerships with organisations like Pepsi to foster transparency and innovation across the supply chain.
As sustainability becomes a top priority for organisations worldwide, solutions like Oscar Sort offer a clear and actionable path forward.
By adopting AI-powered technologies, businesses and institutions can improve waste management practices, drive meaningful engagement, and inspire collective action toward achieving a zero-waste future.
