As a way of making waste recycling more efficient, the University of Beira Interior (UBI) is involved in the GRESINT European project which aims to use artificial intelligence to help classify packages and make waste recycling processes better. According to the university, the GRESINT project which runs until 2026 and has a funding of €800 thousand is focused on sustainability.

The overall goal of the GRESINT project, which is led by SOGAMA, the Spanish ‘Sociedade Galega do Medio Ambiente’, is to provide a roadmap for the adoption of the most important technologies that have been identified, an agenda for digitizing the waste management process, and a list of smart technologies that are already available and may be useful for enhancing industrial operations.

As stated by UBI in a statement to Lusa, the study wants to “contribute to achieving European recycling objectives, by introducing high-quality recovered materials into the production cycle that will replace virgin products”. According to the same note, UBI's responsibilities under the project include monitoring the pilot tests and developing a catalogue covering topics like "requirements engineering, artificial intelligence, data platforms, and cloud architecture" that will act as a foundation for the joint platform's development.

The GRESINT project, which is funded by an economic, social, and territorial cohesion program in the European Union Interreg, according to the organization, will be tested in three pilot tests at the Association of Municipalities for Sustainable Management of Waste in Greater Porto (Lipor) and the SOGAMA.