Mrf, the Ai-powered recycling assistant.

In addressing the knowledge based barriers that individuals face that prevent them from doing more to recycle, and inspiration from other Ai based implementations within the field of sustainability, I proposed Mrf- an app with Ai integration designed to keep all of your local rules regarding recycling accessible within an arms reach. 

The app, based on the location given by the user, creates a Materials Guide, which plainly lists the types of materials that are accepted in the given area. It provides the technical name for the type of material, as well as the practical examples of what things are made of that material, as well as the general procedures for disposing of that type of item. 

When the user cannot figure out based on that guide what type of material their item is, or if they have any other specific concerns about how to sustainably dispose of an item, they can open the Mrf chat, ask their question and receive a customized response, or even upload a photo of the item they are wanting to recycle, which Mrf will help to identify.

As with any design, the inclusion of Ai will always be controversial. Especially with the understanding that most people who would feel compelled to recycle better often also care deeply about the environmental impacts of Ai, and this would cause significant barriers to something like an ai recycling assistant actually being implemented.

AI Disclosure: Figma Make, an AI-driven prototyping tool, was used to generate the initial functional prototype based on prompts and design direction provided by the author. The resulting prototype was subsequently reviewed, edited, and refined by the author.

Reference

Figma, Inc. (2026). Figma Make [AI-powered prototyping tool]. https://www.figma.com/make/