A state-of-the-art review on robotics in waste sorting: scope and challenges

An essential component of a waste management system is waste sorting. Correct sorting of waste is crucial for creating a clean environment for everyone, reducing pollution and reusing recyclable materials. Manual waste sorting can cause serious health issues to the workers due to various disease-causing agents present in the garbage. The use of robots in sorting of materials such as glass, paper, plastic, metals, etc., from other waste can facilitate the production of secondary raw materials as well as conserve energy and production costs. Robots can help in efficient sorting of waste and can work endlessly thus eliminating health hazard to labours. By using computer vision, artificial intelligence, and automation systems, both, the efficiency and accuracy of waste sorting can be increased. This paper showcases the recent studies related with implementation of robots in waste sorting for efficient recycling, algorithms, types of grippers and its advancements. Various studies have been discussed related to computer vision and comparison of various algorithms is also presented. Major challenges faced in implementation of robotic sorting on global scale and its future scope has also been discussed.