Meet Oscar, SEA Airport and Seattle Cruise Terminal’s New AI Trash Waste Sorter

Passengers at both SEA Airport and Bell Harbor Conference Center should be on the lookout for Oscar, the new AI waste-sorting technology that will help visitors sort their waste items into compost, recycling, or trash bins.

The Oscars, from Intuitive AI, are designed to fit existing waste bins. When users walk up to the machine, they place an item in front of a camera for the system to analyze. Oscar then tells the user which bin to use to dispose of the item.

Six new Oscars — four at SEA, one at Bell Harbor Conference Center, and one at Pier 66 in the Norwegian Cruise Lines Terminal — are designed to help educate passengers on proper waste sorting, improving recycling and composting diversion from landfill; they are configured to support local sorting requirements and packaging types. These new devices feature interactive AI technology to offer insights into waste management performance and problem items introduced into the system. The Oscar units are designed so their cameras do not capture or store identifying information about users, just the waste items they present for sorting.

“The Port of Seattle strives to reduce waste to landfills and we’re trying innovations like Oscar to build awareness among our customers and gather data on the types of waste we see at SEA and our maritime facilities,” said Sandra Kilroy, Port of Seattle Senior Director Environment and Sustainability. “We know that individuals come to our gateways from all around the world and they might have different waste bins or rules, so Oscar will help inform them on how to sort here. At SEA, it supports our goal to divert 60% of terminal waste from landfills.”

Oscar units can be found at SEA Airport in the Central Terminal, the North Concourse, the South Concourse near gate S2, and in the C Concourse near gate C17.

Early Returns
- Over 3,000 disposals have occurred with Oscar in November since installation of the units on Thanksgiving Day. The majority of disposals come from the four units at SEA Airport.
- A 43% successful sorting (or diversion) rate has been accomplished during the initial month – higher than many of the other airport clients. Great job, travelers!
- Overall, the mix of disposed waste items is consistent with other large campuses, venues, and transport hubs with large food service operations – but there’s plenty to improve on!

Oscar is still learning and becoming “smarter” to provide more accurate disposal guidance.

This article was originally published by the Port of Seattle. You can read the full article here.