Cross-sector
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Technology
AI and robotic sorting
Commercial, widely deployed
Cameras, near-infrared sensors and machine learning identify each item on a recycling line and robots or air jets pick it out, raising purity and capture.
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Technology
Bubble barriers
Deployed in European cities
A perforated tube on the riverbed releases a curtain of bubbles that pushes floating and suspended plastic to a catchment at the bank.
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Technology
Pyrolysis and other chemical recycling
Mixed record
Heats mixed plastic without oxygen to make oils. Promoted as a fix for hard-to-recycle plastic, but its benefits are strongly debated.
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Technology
Recycling ships at sea: the SeeElefant
In development; first ship planned for 2027
A converted freighter with sorting, shredding and recycling systems on board that can anchor at plastic hotspots with no recycling capacity and process about 60,000 tonnes a year.
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Technology
River interceptors and booms
Deployed in many countries
Floating barriers and conveyor systems anchored in rivers catch plastic before it reaches the sea, where it is far harder to recover.
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Technology
Waste collection boats
Deployed
Slow-moving catamarans with nets collect floating plastic in harbours, estuaries and coastal waters, then bring it ashore for sorting.