From trash islands in the ocean to the plastic bag-strewn banks of almost any river in the world, we can see for ourselves the impact of our commerce. Meanwhile, retailers and manufacturers have to figure out how to dispose of -- or hopefully, recycle -- unused, expired and returned products.
Some new innovations are providing glimpses of how we might get better at managing this mass consumption and waste cycle.
Smarter Sorting, an Austin startup that this week raised $17 million in Series A funding, is approaching the problem by showing retailers what exactly is in the consumer products on their shelves. It culls granular, chemical-level data for a broad list of products. Then it suggests the best ways to reuse, recycle or dispose of the product by taking those chemical profiles and using machine learning to code the attributes in and compare it with local regulations and known impacts on the environment.
“By understanding items down to their chemical level and building software designed to optimize and simplify the use of advanced data, we enable retailers and other stakeholders to sustainably and accountably handle products," Smarter Sorting CEO Chris Ripley said in a news release. "By doing so, we are creating a brand new era of responsible commerce.”
The startup's new funding was led by US Ecology, a regulated waste treatment and disposal company. Also in the round was RTP Ventures and other investors the company identified only as industry experts. That new cash will help it work on ways to become a top solution for consumer product regulatory classification.
Smarter Sorting was founded in 2015 by Chris Ripley and Charlie Vallely. A little over a year ago, the company landed $9.3 million in seed funding and won the California Product Stewardship Council’s Arrow Award for helping identify new ways to keep waste from flowing into hazardous dumping facilities.
