Optimizing Backbone Networks Through Hybrid–Modal Fusion: A New Strategy for Waste Classification

With rapid urbanization, effective waste classification is a critical challenge. Traditional manual methods are time-consuming, labor-intensive, costly, and error-prone, resulting in reduced accuracy. Deep learning has revolutionized this field. Convolutional neural networks such as VGG and ResNet have dramatically improved automated sorting efficiency, and Transformer architectures like the Swin Transformer have further enhanced performance and adaptability in complex sorting scenarios. However, these approaches still struggle in complex environments and with diverse waste types, often suffering from limited recognition accuracy, poor generalization, or prohibitive computational demands. To overcome these challenges, we propose an efficient hybrid-modal fusion method, the Hybrid-modal Fusion Waste Classification Network (HFWC-Net), for precise waste image classification. HFWC-Net leverages a Transformer-based hierarchical architecture that integrates CNNs and Transformers, enhancing feature capture and fusion across varied image types for superior scalability and flexibility. By incorporating advanced techniques such as the Agent Attention mechanism and the LionBatch optimization strategy, HFWC-Net not only improves classification accuracy but also significantly reduces classification time. Comparative experimental results on the public datasets Garbage Classification, TrashNet, and our self-built MixTrash dataset demonstrate that HFWC-Net achieves Top-1 accuracy rates of 98.89%, 96.88%, and 94.35%, respectively. These findings indicate that HFWC-Net attains the highest accuracy among current methods, offering significant advantages in accelerating classification efficiency and supporting automated waste management applications.