OPINION: It is clear the waste industry has played its part in providing oxygen to the potential AI bubble which doomsayers have been predicting for some time… With good reason. Offer any industry which is massively labour intensive and power hungry a pathway to machine powered efficiency that doesn’t sleep or come into work hungover, and they will listen enthusiastically. But at what has chasing this electric dream cost the industry, especially if there are only disgruntled shareholders at the end of the rainbow?
Early March saw the news that recycled plastics trading platform, Cirplus GmbH is entering liquidation. Defining itself as the “AI-powered backbone for recycled plastics procurement” it secured millions of Euros throughout its seven and a half year journey, to eventually have its assets put up for sale to recover some shareholder value.
Safi AI, another AI powered solution, successfully raised more than $19 million in its Series-A funding round but filed accounts at Companies House point to a £10 million loss in 2024. The bubble may not be bursting but it is defiantly starting to deflate.
As a newcomer to the industry, a key lesson learnt is that unpredictability is the industry’s only reliable constant. For me AI (or as I prefer to look at it, digital automation) does represent a huge opportunity in streamlining tasks and removing repetition. However, the fact that nothing remains constant and everything should come with the disclaimer past performance is not indicative of future results.
This means that AI models, training on nothing but past performance, are destined to predict incorrect future results. But this is not an article about the short comings of AI, there is no doubt a place for higher levels of automation and machine learning across the sector. The important caveat is that it should not be at the expense of developing the current and next generation of people within it.
In short working waste requires a level of pragmatism and agility only the human-mind can comprehend. Things go wrong all the time and as we preach at Clearpoint Recycling, we can’t always stop things from happening, but we can focus on how we deal with them when they do. This takes experience and relationships – two things AI may hope to replicate but is a long way from achieving. Therefore, the waste industry remains one of the few sectors where a (non-digital) handshake can be trusted when two parties are trying to find a solution.
In a recent sector insight briefing by accountancy and advisory firm PKF Smith Cooper, they pointed to a 2% decline in employee numbers across business involved in the Recovery of Sorted Materials since 2023. With last year’s increases in employer national insurance contributions and this April’s minimum wage just the start of a planned 15% increase by 2027, the landscape for investing in people is bleak.
Therefore it is small wonder that businesses may turn to AI tools to avoid hiring more staff. This is the backdrop on which businesses like those mentioned above have built a compelling argument to investors that the sector is ripe for an AI powered revolution. Unfortunately this argument has been the prevailing industry view, squeezing out the opportunity for businesses to secure the money they need to grow, especially when people are at the heart of their growth strategy.
At Clearpoint Recycling we have found significant success with bringing in younger people through the use of apprentices and university placements. April will see our next cohort of students from Leeds Beckett University attending our annual open day to learn about the different departments. We have attracted people from across a number of academic sectors, some from the more traditional humanities but also candidates from business, marketing and law. With more than one million young people not in employment or training, this pool of potential workers has to hold value of the waster sector.
This approach takes commitment to train and develop those you recruit not just in the subject matters relevant to the role but also in the 9-to-5 world of work. Again to attract talent businesses are operating in a competitive space so need to look at the broader benefits of flexible and remote working, sabbaticals and salary sacrifice. However our industry has a huge advantage in that it comes with ready-made mission and purpose to change the world. Something rarely celebrated or even acknowledged but can be an extremely powerful draw in the labour market.
It is in these areas where Government can provide direct sector support to a critical industry low down on their agenda.
Subscribe for free