AI Puts Europe’s Plastic Problem Under the Microscope

Greyparrot's Deepnest gives brands real-time recycling data to redesign packaging and hit EU circular economy goals.

1 Jul 2025

Europe’s plastic crisis has a new challenger. On June 24, 2025, London-based Greyparrot unveiled Deepnest, an artificial intelligence platform already drawing attention from brands like Unilever, Amcor, and Asahi. Its pitch is simple but game-changing: show companies what really happens to their packaging once it enters the recycling stream.

Deepnest uses smart cameras and machine learning to track every item moving through sorting facilities. The system can tell whether a product is successfully recycled, lost in the process, or headed to landfill. With those insights, brands can redesign packaging to keep more material in circulation.

For sustainability experts, this kind of visibility has been missing. “We can’t improve what we can’t measure,” one industry leader said. “Now we finally see the truth about our packaging.”

The launch lands at a critical moment. The European Union is tightening recycling rules, raising collection targets, and requiring recycled content in packaging. Companies face growing scrutiny from both regulators and consumers. Access to reliable data could help them adapt faster, avoid fines, and secure better-quality recycled materials.

Barriers still loom. Deepnest needs wider adoption across recycling plants to deliver full coverage, and companies must be willing to redesign products based on what the data reveals. Sharing information across rival firms could also prove politically tricky.

Even so, momentum is building. Early pilots suggest Deepnest could become a standard tool for any brand serious about closing the loop on plastics. The potential prize is clear: less waste, higher recovery rates, and more recycled material feeding back into manufacturing.

Europe’s green transition is accelerating, and Deepnest shows how AI can move beyond hype to tackle one of the continent’s most stubborn problems.