How did you spend your Earth Day yesterday? MIT-spun startup Greenbean Recycle combined its celebration of the eco-friendly holiday with the launch of its first reverse recycling vending machine outside of the Bay State at the University of Southern Indiana.
The company, formerly of PayPal’s Start Tank and MassChallenge and currently working out of Greentown Labs, also plans to install several more of its machines as part of a program with the Alcoa Foundation and Pennsylvania Resources Council.
This is part of Greenbean Recycle’s plan to boost recycling efforts in 40 states that haven’t passed the ‘bottle bill’, or the legislation that requires a minimum monetary refund for each recycled container. According to the startup’s CEO and cofounder Shanker Sahai, over 180 billion beverages are consumed in said less-than-green states. Continued Sahai:
Greenbean wishes to make an impact using our proprietary technology with the use of [reverse vending machines] where beverage brands are connected with consumers who recycled their product and allow them to issue incentives and increase recycling rates.
Back in 2011, Greenbean Recycle pioneered the process of personalized recycling statistics at MIT with the creation of the first-ever reverse vending machine, which not only allows people to track their recycling impact, but also connects beverage brands to those who recycle their product. The machines also deposit funds from the recycling – around five cents per container – directly into an individual’s PayPal account or onto a student card or gift card. What’s more, the top 10 and frequent recyclers are eligible to win a spread of prizes, like iPad minis, for getting greener.
The startup has partnered with Mass. company ZipCar, Barnes and Noble College, and mexican eatery Boloco, among others, over the course of the past two years to bring its recycling tech to the masses. Greenbean Recycle’s machines are now on eight college campuses in Massachusetts, catering to a user base of several thousand students.
