Dataset Taxonomy
Trash classification
Waste sorting is more complex than just assigning the material labels: Plastic, Glass, Metal and Paper or as Gervasio shows.
Certain objects are in fact composites (e.g. Tetrapak) made of plastic, paper and aluminium, plus
there are 7 broad classes of plastics, including 'bioplastics'. While these may seem hard to distinguish visually,
we can actually guess the type of plastic based on the object type.
E.g. Water bottles are generally made of PET, whereas opaque detergent bottles are made of HDPE and Tupperwares are made of PP.
Therefore, trash is classified by both object and material using the categories and super categories below.
Description is provided for less obvious categories. N.b. Categories inherit the supercategory's name if these do not branch.
| Super category | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminium foil | Aluminium foil | - |
| Battery | Battery | - |
| Blister pack | Aluminium blister pack | Containers used to store capsules (e.g. pills) |
| Blister pack | Carded blister pack | Paper-back package |
| Bottle | Clear plastic bottle | Water and soft drink bottles made of PET |
| Bottle | Glass bottle | Includes beer and wine bottles |
| Bottle | Other plastic bottle | Opaque or translucent. Generally made of HDPE. Includes detergent bottles |
| Bottle cap | Plastic bottle cap | - |
| Bottle cap | Metal bottle cap | - |
| Broken glass | Broken glass | - |
| Can | Aerosol | - |
| Can | Drink can | Aluminium soda can |
| Can | Food can | Steel can |
| Carton | Corrugated carton | Includes cardboard boxes |
| Carton | Drink carton | Tetrapak composites |
| Carton | Egg carton | - |
| Carton | Meal carton | Includes sandwich boxes, paper plates, take-out boxes |
| Carton | Pizza box | - |
| Carton | Toilet tube | - |
| Carton | Other carton | Paperboard boxes |
| Cigarette | Cigarette | Cigarette butts |
| Cup | Paper cup | - |
| Cup | Disposable plastic cup | Generally made of PET |
| Cup | Foam cup | Polystyrene Cup |
| Cup | Glass cup | - |
| Cup | Other plastic cup | Reusable plastic cups, thicker than disposable ones |
| Food waste | Food waste | - |
| Glass jar | Glass jar | - |
| Lid | Plastic lid | Includes cup lids |
| Lid | Metal lid | Generally glass jar lids |
| Paper | Normal paper | - |
| Paper | Tissues | - |
| Paper | Wrapping paper | - |
| Paper | Magazine paper | Plastified paper used in catalogues |
| Paper bag | Paper bag | Brown bag |
| Paper bag | Plastified paper bag | Bakery bags that come with transparent film |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Garbage bag | - |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Single-use carrier bag | - |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Polypropylene bag | Reusable bags |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Plastic Film | May be transparent or opaque. Inludes bread bags, cereal bags and produce bags |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Six pack rings | - |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Crisp packet | So common that it needs its own category |
| Plastic bag & wrapper | Other plastic wrapper | Can be made of aluminium. Includes candy wrappers, retort pouches and yoghurt lids |
| Plastic container | Spread tub | Includes margarine tubs and yoghurt pots |
| Plastic container | Tupperware | HDPE microwavable tub |
| Plastic container | Disposable food container | Includes black trays and PET containers |
| Plastic container | Foam food container | Styrofoam takeaway boxes |
| Plastic container | Other plastic container | - |
| Plastic glooves | Plastic glooves | - |
| Plastic utensils | Plastic utensils | - |
| Pop tab | Pop tab | - |
| Rope | Rope | Includes fishing nets |
| Scrap metal | Scrap metal | Includes all metal except cans |
| Shoe | Shoe | - |
| Squeezable tube | Squeezable tube | Includes toothpaste and glue tubes |
| Straw | Plastic straw | - |
| Straw | Paper straw | - |
| Styrofoam piece | Styrofoam piece | - |
| Other plastic | Other plastic | Includes other objects or fragments made of plastic |
| Unlabeled litter | Unlabeled litter | Unknown object of unknown material. Any ambiguous object. |
Background classification
Scenes are labeled using the following tags:
- Pavement, roads
- Vegetation
- Sand, dirt, stones
- Water
- Trash
- Indoor, man-made
- Clean
These are not mutually exclusive since one photo may contain different backgrounds.
Context classification
Objects are also distinguished between litter and non-litter based on the scene context
| Class | Description |
|---|---|
| Litter | Mostly trash on the floor |
| Not litter | Objects in our class system that are (i) not trash yet or (ii) in a garbage bag or (iii) handheld |
| Unknown | In certain images, object context is ambiguous |