AI can recognise faces, cars, even emotions, but until now, it couldn’t see our waste. Philip Meissner talks with Ambarish Mitra, founder of GrayParrot, about the unexpected place AI is finally starting to change the system: recycling.

Ambarish shares his journey from augmented reality to environmental AI, and explains how digitising waste unlocks a powerful new data layer for the circular economy.

You’ll learn:

• Why the plastic crisis is actually a waste and data problem
• How AI detects and sorts waste in chaotic recycling environments
• Why most recyclable packaging never gets recycled
• How real-time data is changing policy, producer responsibility, and design decisions

This conversation shows how AI can move beyond optimisation and advertising to solve one of the world’s most overlooked challenges.

Watch now to see how invisible waste is becoming actionable intelligence.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:13 From augmented reality to recycling

02:45 Why waste is the last AI frontier

04:29 Waste as a design and data problem

06:29 How Gray Parrot uses AI to see waste

08:47 Solving AI detection in chaotic waste

11:28 Insights for waste plants and brands

14:29 Vision for global impact

16:08 Bottlenecks in the circular economy

18:59 The true scale of the waste crisis

23:26 Entrepreneurial pride and purpose

27:26 Leadership lessons from Blippar

29:51 Curiosity vs conviction

30:43 Staying grounded as a founder

32:44 What makes the future optimistic

Connect with Philip Meissner:

linkedin.com/in/pmeissner 

Connect with Ambarish Mitra:

linkedin.com/in/ambarishmitra

#Recycling #ArtificialIntelligence #CircularEconomy #WasteManagement #Sustainability #ClimateTech #GreenTech #ComputerVision #EnvironmentalInnovation #AIForGood #PlasticWaste #WasteCrisis #SustainableFuture #TechForClimate #DataDrivenSustainability

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