Cities–they are dense, cramped and with an exponentially increasing population, they are generating tons of waste! In fact, New York alone generates more than 14 million tonnes of trash each year.

Meanwhile, there is a RoadRunner “running” all over the cities on the east coast. The service stops the waste from landing in the landfill and diverts it instead to recyclers. Recyclers use this raw material to create new products.  

The company launched their services in Detroit this month and is soon set to launch in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas.

Hey, #Detroit. RoadRunner is expanding its services to your city to help you recycle more efficiently! Interested in learning more? https://t.co/tO516Qe1gk pic.twitter.com/wlrn2jbdLD

— RoadRunner (@RoadRunnerWM) May 15, 2018

Businesses are losing out to an archaic waste management system

Working with businesses, RoadRunner is determined to manage and recycle the cities’ waste in a cost-effective and eco-friendly way.

Imagine you run a small agency. You have a nice office that seats your team at 17. Your team especially cherishes the pantry that always has ‘something for everyone’. Your team often orders products online and get them delivered to the office itself.

Between that, and the usual office paperwork, you end up generating a few tonnes of waste every month. Now, there are national waste companies who will collect and move that waste for you, depending upon ‘the weight band’ you fall in.

For example, if you are in the 25-50 tonne band, you pay the same price whether you generate 26 tons or 49.  This archaic pricing structure doesn’t give businesses an incentive to recycle and reduce the amount of wastage in the dumpsters.

You also pay a ‘Landfill fee’ that takes care of the disposal of the waste. It is this number on your monthly waste invoice that RoadRunner attacks.

How does RoadRunner fix this problem?

RoadRunner signs contracts with service buildings and facilities to pick up recyclable waste. More the recyclable material you collect, less is the ‘Landfill fee’. This way, you save money on your business’s waste invoice.

RoadRunner’s solutions save their clients 21% on average on their waste invoices and reduce carbon footprint by 80%.

RoadRunner helps you sort, collect and dispose of waste including cardboard boxes, paper and all sorts of containers made of glass, Aluminium or plastic. The startup also offers eco-friendly food composting solutions.

The company’s service RoadRunnerGo can also take care of a one-time disposal after an event or renovation.

Office spaces, hotels, hospitals, supermarkets, shopping malls, manufacturing & assembly units, and many more businesses can avail of their services. Click here to explore the services offered by RoadRunner based on industry.

What’s different about RoadRunner?

Before we get to RoadRunner’s USP, let’s first talk about how recycling works.

The most common recycling practice followed today is the Single Stream Recycling.

Single Stream recycling was introduced in 1990 in California. Here, segregating waste is done by workers employed by the waste management facilities.

The idea behind Single Stream Recycling was to remove the burden of sorting from consumers so that they recycle more. Even though this method collected more waste from consumers, the quality of hauls fell drastically.

Know more about single stream recycling in this fun, entertaining video:

What was the problem?

Contamination!

When you throw all waste materials into one bin, they mix up and end up contaminated. By the time the materials reach waste management facilities for sorting, they are already unfit for recycling.

This leads to meaningless transport of waste from the sorting facility to landfill. The waste is eventually burnt at landfills, thus generating more carbon emissions.

What’s a better alternative?

Multi-Stream recycling.

Multi-Stream recycling involves separation of waste materials at the source itself. This is an effective way to manage the waste. Also, an overwhelming number of buyers prefer clean recycled materials sourced from Multi-Stream Recycling Centers.

Graham Rihn, President of RoadRunner states, “Single stream recycling is too capital intensive, requiring dumpsters, trucks, and processing. These are not necessary for efficient and low-cost recycling.”

RoadRunner operates on an on-demand model. The company operates a local network of independent haulers, recyclers, and landfill operators who transact with RoadRunner’s platform.  

The startup relies on its software to predict supply rates and understand how to choose appropriate storage containers.

RoadRunner’s Launch Director, Dean Liappas points out, “We can use our database to direct materials to the existing infrastructure for recycling materials in any city.”

The startup believes in user education and provides technical assistance in planning, selection, and configuration of bins and carts. You can also choose collection schedules that are convenient for you.

About RoadRunner

RoadRunner was founded in August 2014 with a motive to make waste management and recycling more cost-effective. Apart from helping small businesses, the startup has successfully reduced the amount of toxic waste material dumped in open grounds.

Founder of RoadRunner, Graham Rihn has built a cleantech startup earlier. As Co-founder and President of Sequoia Waste Solutions, Graham led strategic expansion initiatives for the company in the waste management industry. At RoadRunner, he has already closed more than $20M in funding successfully.

If you are running a small business and want to see that ‘Landfill fee’ go down, get in touch with RoadRunner here.