How AI Vehicle Damage Assessment Can Help Reduce Plastic Waste

While many may not realize it, Ravin’s AI-based vehicle damage assessment system can help mitigate one of the biggest environmental problems we face: the ever-growing piles of plastic waste that are choking the planet and endangering our health. With Ravin’s AI-driven inspection system, drivers, insurers, and repair shops will be able to more easily determine which plastic components need to be replaced, and which can be repaired. 

The data on plastic pollution is well-known – and depressing: Over 90% of all the world’s plastic ends up in landfills or lakes, rivers, and oceans; it’s estimated that plastic is responsible for the deaths of over a million seabirds annually; and there is growing evidence that microplastics, the tiny-sized fragments that result from the environmental breakdown of plastic, are harming the health of animals – and humans.

Plastic is a Growing Part of Vehicles 

Few believe we can eliminate plastic altogether; without plastic, many of the conveniences we have come to rely on – like cars – would just not exist. Light, flexible, plastic, in fact, makes up some 50% of the average motor vehicle today – but contributes to just 10% of a vehicle’s weight. Lighter vehicles need less fuel, thus reducing air pollution from gas-powered vehicles – and enabling electric-powered vehicles to go farther on fewer charges. And it’s not just in vehicles that plastic has advantages; plastic helps reduce food waste, makes construction cheaper, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly – and modern medicine as we know it would simply not exist without plastic.

Plastic, then, is not the culprit; it’s plastic waste that’s the problem. Harnessing plastic’s positive attributes while reducing the impact of plastic on the environment would be a win-win. Thus the ongoing research on biodegradable plastics, and efforts like Plastic Free July,  where millions of individuals have taken on personal commitments to reduce plastic waste – an effort that organizers say has had a “significant global impact.”

Improving the Assessment of Plastic Damage  

Reducing plastic pollution in the auto industry is an ongoing effort – and Ravin’s AI-based system can make a contribution to that effort as well, especially now that more than 60% of parts damaged during all collisions contain plastic, according to Plastrepair. With Ravin’s app, drivers, insurers, and repair shops can take pictures of the damage to a vehicle. The Ravin system analyzes the image, comparing it to millions of others in our database – matching the damage to others that have the same or similar damage, specific to the make, model, and even year of manufacture for the vehicle. The Ravin system assesses the damage, repair costs, extent of the damage, even the circumstances under which the damage occurred, and provides guidance on if, and how, the vehicle can be repaired. 

Thus if a plastic vehicle component – say, a bumper – is damaged, the Ravin system will be able to recommend the best way to proceed, making sure to prioritize repairing rather than replacing whenever feasible.  Often, it’s not obvious that a component can indeed be repaired; a human insurance investigator or garage mechanic will often look at the component and write it off as a “total loss.” But Ravin’s AI-based system has the data and the imaging technology to make that assessment far more accurately than any human ever could – and it can save the insurer and driver money, as well as help save the environment. 

Assigning Value to Re-Usable and Recyclable Plastic

If a part does need to be replaced, or a car labeled as “totaled,” AI- and computer vision-powered inspection tools can help determine the true value of the plastic parts and components. This data can help  ensure that auto shops receive fair value for the sale of plastic parts to recyclers or other processors, offering further incentive to make sure plastic is not simply sent to landfills..  

Lest you think that the environmental impact here is negligible, consider this: There are over 16,000 reported vehicle accidents each day in the U.S., but the actual number – where drivers just exchange information themselves or call their insurer – is likely at least double. If everyone were to use Ravin’s system, that could mean 32,000 fewer bumpers, mirrors, dashboards, moldings, and many more components headed to the dump. 

‍