Americans are better at recycling than ever before. We do it all the time, almost without thinking. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 89 million tons of solid waste was recycled in America in 2014.
Therefore it might come as a surprise when Ravish Majithia, co-founder of local startup Magnomer, says the American recycling business is in a dire situation.
“The recycling industry is in crisis mode right now, and that’s maybe an understatement,” Majithia said.
This is due in large part to the fact that much of our recycling does not get sorted properly. When, for example, plastic waste gets mixed in with paper goods, it contaminates the paper recycling and makes it much more difficult to process.
Sorting plastic properly is a key factor in recycling, more than ever. America used to ship most of its recycling to China for processing—but now, China has cracked down on its imports of significantly intermingled waste. Its new “National Sword” policy, implemented at the beginning of this year, lays down strict guidelines for the recycling the country takes in from foreign powers.
“The onus is now back on American recyclers to figure out what to do,” Majithia said.
Majithia has developed an answer. Magnomer develops magnetic coatings for plastics that allow them to be easily sorted in recycling plants and ensure that they do not get mixed in with other materials. These coatings are mostly for small plastic goods, things like utensils, straws and bottle caps, that frequently get lost in sorting areas.
Majithia, who has a background in nanomaterial science, said he and co-founder Vishal Salian started to develop the idea for Magnomer in 2016, while living in Portland, Ore. The pair’s initial R&D happened over the course of 2016, and they started manufacturing prototypes and getting the company up and running last summer. Today, Magnomer’s team consists of three people split between Boston and Mumbai.
The initial funding for the company came from Majithia and Salian themselves, as well as from friends and family. Magnomer won Babson College’s 2018 B.E.T.A. challenge, which awarded them $20,000 in cash and donations from corporate sponsors.
Magnomer has partnered with Casella, one of the region’s largest waste management companies, since last fall. The company is currently testing the effectiveness of their bottle cap markers at Casella’s Charlestown facility.
While the primary function of the markers that Magnomer applies to plastics is to make them easily sortable in recycling facilities, the coating can also be customized and labeled so that they are easily identified as recyclable by consumers.
Magnomer is a member of the MassChallenge 2018 cohort, and will compete for the MassChallenge Boston Awards in the fall.
