A professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northumbria University in Newcastle, United Kingdom, Esther Akinlabi, has disclosed that about eight million tonnes of plastics end up in the sea annually.
Akinlabi made this known yesterday in Ilorin, Kwara State, in a paper she presented at the 2nd Faculty of Engineering and Technology International Conference (FETiCON 2024) organised by the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of Ilorin.
The conference’s theme is “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
Akinlabi said that about five percent of plastics are dumped in the sea, while 95 percent are submerged beneath water bodies.
She noted that plastics strangle and destroy water creatures, threaten the ecosystem, and cause flooding.
The don submitted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can assist in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She stressed the need for intelligent manufacturing technology to ensure waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
She explained that technology can help to transform plastic waste into wealth.
“Studies have successfully shown that AI is capable of tracking and categorising plastic waste on water bodies,” she said.
In her presentation, Prof. Suvendi Rimer of the Department of Electrical Engineering Science at the University of Johannesburg asserted that AI has the potential to improve healthcare.
She advised that African countries must be united and focus on biomedical devices tailored towards their needs.
Rimer added that the primary rule is to develop a skilled workforce and provide practical training in developing biomedical devices, such as new prostheses.
