AI's Role in Sustainable Manufacturing: Reducing Industrial Waste

Abstract

As the transition to Industry 5.0 is underway, characterised by the integration of human creativity and collaboration alongside digital transformation, the focal point of various technological interventions is increasingly progressing toward human-centricity and sustainability. This review critically examines the impact of AI and ML on energy-intensive sectors, with particular focus on the minimisation of industrial waste and carbon emissions, Human-Robot Collaboration systems, and smart grid infrastructure. The net environmental impact of AI is also discussed, urging manufacturers to weigh the computational energy required to train these models against the operational savings their implementation generates.