NILG.AI wins national award with AI project for waste management

NILG.AI, a startup incubated at UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of University of Porto, has won the Data Changemaker of the Year award for its project using Artificial Intelligence to optimize the collection and management of urban waste in the Algarve.

In collaboration with Algar, a waste recovery company, NILG.AI developed an AI system that optimizes the location of recycling stations in the Algarve region, increasing accessibility and the amount of waste recycled.

The Data Changemaker of the Year award, promoted by the Data Science Portuguese Association in partnership with the Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE), aims to recognize data science projects that generate a significant social and environmental impact.

The project is based on analyzing vast multimodal data collected over three years. The information includes waste collection records, geolocation of recycling bins, and demographic data complemented by satellite and street images. Using this database, the UPTEC startup has developed predictive machine learning and computer vision models to estimate waste production in new areas, assess road conditions and optimization models to maximize collection efficiency.

The results are presented on a dashboard that allows human intervention for validation, adjustments, and report submission to local authorities. In addition to suggesting the placement of the recycling bins, Artificial Intelligence generates justification for the decision, making the criteria for choice more objective for potential stakeholders.

The project, currently in its pilot phase in the municipalities of Lagoa and São Brás de Alportel, has already shown a degree of agreement of more than 80% between the AI technology’s suggestions and human decisions.

NILG.AI, a startup incubated at UPTEC, was distinguished by Data Science Portuguese Association and Nova SBE with the Data Changemaker of the Year 2024 award.

September 24, 2024

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