You may have noticed something unusual about the new waste sorting bins at UCSF.
His name is Oscar.
Oscar is a Smart Recycling Assistant from Intuitive AI, trained to help with waste bin sorting. All you need to do is hold the object (or objects, multiple can be done at a time) in front of Oscar, and Oscar will tell you which bin it goes into.
You can find Oscar units at Mission Hall (above), Cole Hall, Genentech Hall, and Mission Union food court.
The Recycling and Waste team launched five Oscar bins at four locations across campus: two at Millberry Union food court, one in each of the lobbies at Genentech Hall, Cole Hall, and Mission Hall.
The goal is that the Oscar units will help people sort waste and improve UCSF’s overall waste diversion rate.
Denny Nguyen, Facilities Landscape Supervisor, tries out Oscar at the Second Annual Continuous Improvement Fair.
“UCSF has had a regression in our diversion rate since 2019...and it’s being attributed to a lot of improper sorting: people are just putting the wrong things in the wrong bin. That leads to excess fines, excess contamination fees, and excess charges we have to pay from our utilities bill,” Daniel Chau, Facilities Assistant Director of Recycling and Waste, said.
Chau thinks Oscar will be especially helpful for visitors or patients who may be less familiar with UCSF’s sorting protocols or face language barriers to understanding printed signage.
“At Millberry Union food court, patients are coming in and eating without being aware of what we are doing. We are hoping this is just one tool that can help emphasize the need for proper sorting,” Chau said.
Chau demonstrates how Oscar units are programmed to recognize UCSF's unique waste-sorting guidelines.
The bins are tailored to UCSF’s specific recycling rules, providing helpful guidance to an otherwise confusing process, given that sorting protocols vary by county and state.
“People become more conscious when they approach a bin that prompts them to pause and think before throwing something away,” Brian Sano, Head of Strategy at Intuitive AI said.
“It’s funny because many assume we’ve taken the thinking out of the process, but in reality, we’ve put the fun and thinking back into it,” Sano said.
For those concerned about the environmental impact of AI, Sano assures that the AI used in the programming is sourced locally, making it more energy efficient.
“Something important to know is Oscar's AI runs on the edge, meaning its information is processed locally on the device,” he said. “That keeps data usage and energy consumption very low, and is comparable to a laptop and a TV.”
Oscar units also engage visitors with interactive trivia and surpises.
You can also find Oscar in a number of locations around the Bay Area, including the California Academy of Sciences, Aquarium by the Bay, and the Salesforce Transit Center.
“We're launching Oscar in as many places around the Bay Area as possible,” he said. “There’s a concept known as the ‘rule of seven’. When people see or experience something repeatedly, they’re much more likely to adopt that behavior, especially when it's fun and rewarding.”
Chau’s team plans to compare audit data before and after the Oscar installations, with the hope of expanding to other campus locations in the near future.
So far, Chau says, the feedback has been positive.
“From what I’ve seen from the people I’ve spoken to who have had these Oscar units placed, they’ve seen increases in participation and increases in proper sorting,” Chau said.