There are a number of startups working to improve trash sorting with robots. AMP Robotics is near the top of the list, coupling a picker and a conveyor belt to sort materials in large, automated facilities. The technology aims to correct human shortcomings when it comes to recycling. Too often people either don’t bother to separate trash, or simply don’t understand where things go.

Founded in 2015, CleanRobotics hopes to correct the issue at the point of disposal. The Colorado firm’s flagship trashbot system uses on-board machine learning and robotic systems to sort materials from a single disposal point. It claims the machines are able to do so with roughly 90% accuracy -- not perfect, but certainly better that what humans generally do.

“Recycling rules are confusing and consumers are often so confused that their recycling accuracy is less than chance, leading to highly contaminated recyclables, which no one is buying,” CEO Charles Yhap said in a release. “Our system improves material diversion from landfills, resulting in more recyclables and less waste.”

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Given the on-board AI/ML, the trash sorting robot is, naturally, gathering data to help improve the sorting process. CleanRobotics notes, "The recycling bin of the future doesn’t stop there, it also generates high-quality data for waste audits, triggers fullness alerts, and features a large display for video content. And thanks to cloud connectivity, your TrashBot fleet only gets smarter over time."

It's easy to imagine other commerce-related data being utilized, based on the specific trash the system collects.

This week, the company announced a $4.5 million Series A led by Melco International Development Limited and featuring SOSV/HAX, Undivided VC and Longmont Evergreen Opportunity Fund. The funding will go toward CleanRobotics' plans to produce “hundreds” of systems, in addition to those already installed in high-traffic areas like shopping malls and airports.

In particular, the company says it’s eyeing partnerships in China, Australia and Singapore. Funding will also go toward making additional hires, improving manufacturing and ramping up research and development.

Founders of recycling startups say the pandemic changed the investment game

More than half of Canadians believe the metaverse will be part of everyday life within the next decade, study says

Top U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil producer Shell said on Thursday it halted production at three U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater platforms after a leak shut two pipelines connecting the platforms, adding it expected pipeline service to resume on Friday. A failure at an onshore pipeline junction in Louisiana leaked about two barrels of oil, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of Greater Lafourche Port Commission. A Shell spokesperson said the leak, approximately two barrels of oil, has been contained, and the company expects the Mars and Amberjack pipelines to return to service on Aug. 12.

TORONTO — While moviegoers flocked to testosterone epics "Top Gun: Maverick" and the latest "Doctor Strange" over the summer, the head of Cineplex Inc. says he's certain the romantic comedy is due for a comeback on the big screen. Ellis Jacob, chief executive of Canada's largest film exhibitor, said he predicts a rosier outlook for biopics, Oscar-worthy dramas and word-of-mouth comedies — all genres that are mid-tier-budget movies. That's despite competition from deep-pocketed streaming giants p

(Reuters) -Stock trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc must face market manipulation claims over restrictions it placed on trading during last year's "meme stock" rally, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga in Miami said in the ruling that investors in GameStop Corp, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc and seven other stocks can proceed with a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the restrictions artificially depressed share prices.

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"Electricity and gas prices started to re-accelerate, while price hikes are becoming more prevalent in goods such as processed foods," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. Economists estimate the nationwide core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food costs but includes energy, was 2.4% higher last month than a year earlier. Excluding periods when the indicator was skewed by effects of higher sales tax, the expected core CPI rise for July would be the fastest since August 2008.

(Reuters) -The U.S. stock market's rebound in recent weeks has analysts and investors questioning whether 2022's deep downturn has ended, but how to spot an expiring bear market or a new bull market is not something everyone on Wall Street agrees on. The Nasdaq index's drop of about 0.6% on Thursday left the tech-heavy index up 20% from recent low on June 16, while the S&P 500 has also rebounded in recent weeks, now up 15% from its recent low in June. The recent gains led analysts at Bespoke Investment Group to declare on Thursday morning the Nasdaq had exited its recent bear market, even though the index remains down about 21% from its record high close last November, with trillions of dollars in stock market value still lost.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Xiaomi Corp is currently running tests on 140 vehicles across China for autonomous driving, CEO Lei Jun said on Thursday. Speaking at a livestreamed company event, Lei said the company had 500 staff devoted solely to developing autonomous driving technology for its upcoming car and had put 3.3 billion yuan ($490 million) towards the initiative. At the event, Lei also unveiled a humanoid robot dubbed CyberOne, weighing 52kg and measuring 177cm tall, although it was not ready for mass production.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican leasing firm Unifin's debt restructuring is credit negative and could reflect tight refinancing conditions for Mexican financial institutions, Moody's rating agency said on Friday. "Unifin's restructuring and cessation of principal and interest payments will negatively affect Mexico's smaller finance institutions, whose own liquidity profiles and funding sources are strained by heightened global volatility and investors wary of Mexico's," non-bank financial institution sector, Moody's said in its report. Unifin's shares were down 7.21% in late trading Friday.

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Europe is heading into winter with seasonally low levels of diesel in storage tanks, with major implications for the continent's industries and drivers in the run-up to EU sanctions on Russian crude oil and refined product supplies. Diesel, along with other distillate fuels such as heating oil and gasoil, are the lifeblood of industry with uses ranging from powering factories to heating homes, in addition to being used as a motor fuel. When Russia, which supplies Europe with about 60% of its import requirement, invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the diesel market went into shock as it priced in a possible cutoff of those supplies.

Miners will struggle to expand operations in the United States in record time to meet a deadline for sourcing key minerals domestically or from select countries as set out by a bill likely to be passed on Friday, companies and industry watchers said. The requirement is part of a sweeping bill that includes climate and clean energy policies and rules on electric vehicle (EV) battery materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel and graphite. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote nL1N2ZJ02X on the measure Friday.

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"As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio," it said, adding that cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world. In 2020, J&J announced that it would stop selling its talc Baby Powder in the United States and Canada because demand had fallen in the wake of what it called "misinformation" about the product's safety amid a barrage of legal challenges. The company faces about 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors claiming its talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Nasdaq and S&P 500 retreated to close lower on Thursday on the realization the Federal Reserve still needs to aggressively boost interest rates to fully tame rising consumer prices despite fresh evidence of cooling inflation. The S&P 500 closed a tad lower after earlier hitting fresh three-month highs following data that showed the U.S. producer price index (PPI) unexpectedly fell in July. The drop in PPI raised bets in futures markets that the Fed would hike rates by 50 basis points in September instead of 75 basis points as was expected earlier in the week.

Plunging valuations have made biotech companies tempting acquisition targets for cash-rich Big Pharma and a flurry of deals is just what the battered sector needs to turn a corner. Pfizer's $5.4 billion acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics, which was announced on Monday, is the fourth deal in the sector since the pharma giant bought Biohaven for $11.6 billion in May, adding to optimism that large drugmakers are back in the market to pick up cheaper firms. Industry experts predict biotech firms that are closer to getting their product to market or already have a drug approved are likely to become M&A targets for large drugmakers, some of whom are staring at patent expirations of their cash cow drugs.

SNDL Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL) ("SNDL" or the "Company") reported its financial and operational results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022. All financial information in this press release is reported in millions of Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. All results for the second quarter of 2021 exclude the subsequent acquisitions of Inner Spirit Holdings ("Spiritleaf") and Alcanna Inc. ("Alcanna"), which closed on July 20, 2021, and March 31, 2022, respectively.

Some stock market bulls are watching a technical indicator for clues on whether a summer rebound in U.S. equities will roll on. The S&P 500 is up 15% from its mid-June low, a rally that gained even more momentum after Wednesday's U.S. inflation data showed consumer prices unchanged for July. The stock surge, which has delivered the S&P's best eight-week period in more than a year, has brought the index within sight of a 50% retracement of its bear market loss.

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