BEIJING, July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China.org.cn on a Chinese startup reinvented recycling:
Tech for good: How a Chinese startup reinvented recycling
While the world’s AI giants battle for faster chips and greater computing power, a Chinese startup dedicated to smarter waste sorting quietly secured a spot on Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025 list. It was the only Chinese company featured in the “Reuse & Recycle” category.
The company, DataBeyond, is redefining the true meaning of “tech for good” by choosing a path that is both difficult and worthwhile.
The story begins in a decidedly unglamorous setting. In 2018, Mo Zhuoya, a mechatronics engineering graduate from Harbin Institute of Technology, stepped into a recycling center. She was met with mountains of discarded clothing and the sharp, sour stench of decay. Dozens of workers were picking through the jumbled piles by hand. Because complex blended fabrics rendered traditional sorting machines completely blind, the entire operation had to rely on human eyes and hands.
It was there that Mo made a decision: She would apply her years of expertise in robotics and smart manufacturing to waste sorting.
But bringing laboratory algorithms into the messy reality of a waste depot was no small feat. The first robot they built had a mere 70% accuracy rate. Undeterred, Mo and her team dug in. By day, they crouched beside smelly conveyor belts, manually sifting through garments alongside the workers. By night, they fed their AI system image after image. Realizing that textile sorting requires identifying the material itself rather than just its external appearance, the team chose to combine hyperspectral imaging with AI algorithms, eventually developing a state-of-the-art optical fabric sorter. This machine takes just 0.03 seconds to identify complex blends. Once identified, high-pressure air jets act like a surgeon’s scalpel, precisely blowing the target materials off a high-speed belt into their designated bins.
The results were transformative. It used to take 30 workers to sort about 2 metric tons of used clothing every hour. Now, a single machine can handle more than 2 metric tons an hour, with an accuracy rate as high as 98%. Waste sorting has finally achieved true industrial standardization.
This AI-powered waste-sorting technology hasn’t just scaled domestically in China; it has also been exported to more than 40 countries and regions, including Japan and Italy. It is helping communities worldwide tackle the dirtiest, most grueling and most hazardous waste processing tasks.
Amid geopolitical noise and often politicized narratives surrounding China’s AI development, DataBeyond offers a powerful rebuttal through tangible social impact. The company proves that cutting-edge AI shouldn’t just live on servers in the cloud; it belongs in the trenches, taking on the harsh environments that humans shouldn’t have to endure. Here, automation isn’t about replacing people — it’s about protecting human health and dignity.
As we march toward an intelligent era, AI must be more than a cold, calculated race for efficiency. From the mundane task of sorting waste to the broader vision of a global green transition, Chinese innovators are demonstrating how inclusive, tech-for-good values can thrive. As we accelerate toward the future, these innovators are helping ensure that the emerging intelligent era is grounded in human-centric values.
China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm
Tech for good: How a Chinese startup reinvented recycling
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2026-07/16/content_118602105.shtml
