recycling
CleanFiber wants to turn millions of tons of cardboard boxes into insulation
The startup has raised $28 million to help fund a nationwide expansion of its cardboard-based cellulose building insulation.
Amazon generates a lot of trash. Precisely how much is a matter of some debate. In 2021, the company says it used 214 million or so pounds of single-use plastic…
Resourcify, a platform to digitize waste management, raises €14M
Resourcify, a waste management and recycling platform, today announced that it raised €14 million ~($14.94 million) in a Series A round led by Vorwerk Ventures with participation from Revent, Ananda…
Material wealth: Scrap metal trading marketplace Metaloop raises $17M
European Union (EU) lawmakers this month announced plans to reduce waste and increase recycling across the bloc, with proposals to collect and process 45% of 16 identified “strategic” raw materials…
DePoly keeps hard-to-recycle plastic from ending up in landfills
About 400 million tons of plastic are produced each year, but less than 10% is recycled, with most of the rest ending up incinerated or in landfills. One reason is…
‘Infinite recycling’ startup Samsara Eco partners with Lululemon
Samsara Eco, an Australian startup that uses enzyme-based tech to recycle plastics, textiles and other materials countless number of times, has struck a major partnership with Lululemon. The deal means…
AMP Robotics attracts investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund
AMP Robotics, a Denver, Colorado-based startup creating robotic systems that can automatically sort recyclable material, today announced that it extended its Series C round to $99 million, thanks to an…
‘Drink to dust’: Startup says just smash its clay alternative to plastic cups
Disposable plastic and paper cups are an environmental mess. GaeaStar, a startup based in Berlin and San Francisco, thinks it can do better with just clay, water, salt and sand.…
Recycleye grabs $17M, calling plastic crisis a ‘tremendous business opportunity’
Highlighting the plastic industry’s infamous track record on recycling, London-based Recycleye says it raised $17 million in new funding led by “deep tech” investor DCVC. The startup claims its recycling-picking…
Transforming old cardboard boxes into insulation nets CleanFiber $10 million round
Cellulose insulation is made from recycled newspapers, a dwindling resource. CleanFiber thinks its cardboard process can make up the difference.
Metaspectral snaps $4.7M seed round to bring real-time hyperspectral data to recycling
The startup’s real-time processing of hyperspectral data could give companies new ways to use imagery to solve old problems.
Humble keeps excess inventory out of the Philippines’ landfills
Excess inventory, including returned items, from e-commerce, logistics and retail companies often ends up being disposed. Manila-based Humble Sustainability is a circular economy startup that wants to keep it out…
Samsara Eco raises $54M AUD for its ‘infinite plastic recycling’ tech
Samsara Eco, an Australian startup that uses enzyme-based technology to break down plastic into its core molecules, announced today it has raised $54 million AUD (about $34.7 million USD) in…
During a family trip to India, Jagadeesh Ambati was shocked by how broken the local recycling system had become. After complaining about it to his wife, she challenged him to…
Samsung aims to make global operations and products carbon neutral by 2050
Samsung announced Thursday it will invest more than $5 billion (7 trillion KRW) in its carbon-neutral projects and environmental technologies through 2030, aiming to make its global operations and products…
There are a number of startups working to improve trash sorting with robots. AMP Robotics is near the top of the list, coupling a picker and a conveyor belt to…
Pivoting from tobacco waste to textiles, Circ puts a fresh spin on clothing recycling
Recycling startup Circ announced a $30 million Series B round led by Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Founders of recycling startups say the pandemic changed the investment game
For years, startups addressing the recycling crisis labored in relative anonymity. But those who stuck with it are seeing growing investor support, three founders said at TC Sessions: Climate 2022.
Coca-Cola’s attached bottle cap is rock bottom of hokey greenwashing
I don’t cover post-IPO companies a lot, and Coca-Cola is def on the list of ones I can generally ignore. But when the company sends out a hand-wringing press release…
FloorFound grabs more capital to grow its oversized recommerce business
What makes FloorFound stand out from its competitors is its approach to putting retailers, which often struggle with how to effectively do returns, at the center of recommerce.
Lithium-ion recycler Li-Cycle lands $200 million to power future EVs
Metals and fossil fuels behemoth Glencore is pumping $200 million into battery recycler Li-Cycle as part of a larger, symbiotic supply deal inked by the two firms. Under the new…
We’re just 48 hours away from the end of the early-bird season leading up to TC Sessions: Climate 2022 (featuring the Extreme Tech Challenge 2022 Global Finals), which takes place…
CEOs at AMP Robotics, Novoloop and Nth Cycle will discuss disrupting recycling at TC Sessions: Climate
Recycling is an essential — if not particularly glamorous — part of fighting climate change. It’s no secret that the world has a serious trash problem. The U.S. alone generates…
I’ve got to admit, the respective pedigrees of Glacier’s founders are a bit unexpected for a recycling robotics company. Areeb Malik used to be a software engineer at Facebook, and…
Plastic bags are bad. Ban them from supermarkets, and the problem is solved, right? Right? Right? Turns out, as is often the case, there may be a little bit more…
Europe lays out expanded ecodesign rules with plan for digital product passports
The European Union has announced a new bundle of sustainability-focused policy proposals that will expand existing ecodesign rules on energy efficiency by encouraging longer product lifespans, supporting the growth of…
UK-based TrueCircle, a computer vision startup founded just last year, has nabbed $5.5 million in pre-seed funding in a bid to bring data-driven AI to the recycling industry to improve…
Novoloop says it’s worked out how to upcycle plastic waste, raises $11M Series A
Upcycling polyethylene (the normal ubiquitous plastic we are all familiar with) into high-value plastics that can compete with “virgin” plastic (meaning plastics made directly from petro-chemicals) is a fiendish problem…
Effa’s tiny but tip-top team tools up for a tiff with trivial toothbrushes on their own turf
Travel, conferences, hotels, they all have something in common: Everything is designed to be used once, and then discarded. Of course, it would be delightful if everyone was able to…
UBQ Materials’ plastic replacement product attracts $170M from impact investor TPG Rise
UBQ Materials, which claims it has developed a plastic-like material made from 100% unsorted household waste, has raised a $170 million funding round led by TPG Rise, TPG’s global impact…