Artificial intelligence has become one of the most discussed topics in business technology.
In many industries, the conversation revolves around chatbots, content generation, and virtual assistants. While those tools have their place, the opportunity for AI in recycling is much larger.
The industry's greatest challenge isn't generating information. It's executing work more efficiently.
Every day, recycling companies process purchase orders, create sales orders, schedule transportation, manage inventory, reconcile settlements, coordinate customers, and make pricing decisions. Many of these tasks remain highly manual despite advances in technology.
The next generation of AI is changing that.
"GreenSpark had gone deep on agentic AI — software that doesn't just surface information but actually executes tasks."
— Gordon Driscoll, ReSpark CEO
Unlike traditional software that simply presents data, agentic AI can take action based on business rules, historical activity, and operational context.
Imagine receiving a purchase order and having software automatically validate information, create transactions, identify exceptions, and route approvals without requiring manual intervention.
Imagine a dispatch team supported by systems capable of recommending optimal routes, loads, and scheduling decisions based on real-time operational data.
These capabilities are already beginning to emerge throughout the recycling industry.
ReSpark's vision for AI extends across multiple operational areas, including the Commercial Agent, Dispatch Agent, Finance Agent, and Operations Agent, along with transportation planning, inventory workflows, and financial processes.
"These weren't prototypes — they were in production across paying customers."
— Gordon Driscoll
The opportunity becomes even larger when operational intelligence is combined with data collected across purchasing, inventory, logistics, and customer interactions.
As recycling companies continue growing, automation will play a critical role in helping teams manage increasing complexity without proportionally increasing administrative overhead.
The organizations that embrace AI first will not simply become more efficient.
They'll gain the ability to make faster decisions, respond more effectively to customers, and scale operations without adding unnecessary friction.
"The velocity of what we can ship now—with a combined AI and data team and a much larger customer base generating signal—is something this industry genuinely hasn't seen."
— Gordon Driscoll
The future of AI in recycling won't be measured by how many questions software can answer.
It will be measured by how much work it can eliminate.
