‘Uber for trash’ uses rideshare technology to collect waste

Four years ago, Greg Lettieri and Adam Pasquale found their startup idea in the garage.

The CEO and COO, respectively, of Recycle Track Systems (RTS) offers up environmentally focused waste removal and recycling by connecting its clients with independent haulers. Its major selling point, however, takes a page out of Uber’s driving manual, using technology that tracks trash from pickup to drop-off.

New York-based RTS partners with local sanitation companies to transport garbage by installing rideshare tech in their trucks. Client companies get multiple notifications on where their waste is going via RTS’s proprietary software and experts in waste management. RTS also offers on-demand service for larger items, like furniture or electronics. In June, the company closed a series A financing round with Volition Capital worth $11.7 million.

The startup aims to take food waste straight to the farm where it is converted to soil. Waste with high potential to be laced with plastic gets sent to a facility to be cleaned. In fact, the CEO explained that environmental concerns are a focus of his company.

“Food waste is 35 percent of the waste stream, making it a real problem with landfills,” Lettieri told CNBC recently. “We need more people on this, the amount of material being thrown out needs to change.”

RTS operates in New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago, offering its services to restaurants, schools, hotels, stadiums and supermarkets.

RTS software collects data on what type of waste the company is producing and how to reduce their footprint, and a company expert can give a lesson about how the client can be more sustainable. One of those clients is WeWork, the booming work sharing company that has locations mushrooming all over New York City that started working with RTS back in February 2016.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*