How sustainability startups are changing the way we think about waste

Recycling 2.0

Sorting waste into categories can be time-consuming and, frankly, tedious. Which container does the coffee cup go into again?

It’s a problem for businesses, too – and recycling startup First Mile is recognising the problem. Bruce Bratley founded it to offer bespoke collections for those previously restricted by set pick-up times and locations. Now, his company manages the recycling of more than 25,000 London businesses, making nearly 13 million collections annually.

 “Collectively, we need to reduce how much we use, and recycle as much as possible in an eco-friendly manner,” Bratley told Cityscapes.

The statistics are impressive: on average, 66 per cent of materials collected are recycled, compared to the overall London recycling rate of 33 per cent. And the company claims that most companies can expect to recycle 90 per cent of the waste they produce. Anything that can’t be recycled is used to create green energy.

First Mile won a trophy at the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards in 2018, for its London sack-sorting facility or ‘Sackatory’, designed to make it even easier for business owners: no need to separate glass, plastic and paper.

Waste not, want not

OLIO wants to change how we think about waste completely, one carrot at a time. That wonky parsnip? It could be the making of someone’s stew. That tin of peaches sitting at the back of the cupboard? Just the ticket for your neighbour’s pudding.

The nifty app matches up surplus food with people who can rescue and use it. Simply snap a pic of the surplus item or ingredients and post it on OLIO. It’s a way for cafes, shops or neighbours to share food for free.

It could be a box of veg from an allotment, or the results of an enthusiastic cake-making session after watching the Great British Bake-Off. Or it could a family that’s off on holiday but hasn’t run down the contents of the fridge.

Around a million people have joined OLIO since it launched in the UK in 2015, sharing almost 1.5 million portions of food. 

Tessa Clarke, who co-founded the app with Saasha Celestial-One, told Cityscapes about her inspiration: six sweet potatoes, a white cabbage and some pots of yoghurt.

“I was moving country and found myself on moving day with some good food that we hadn’t managed to eat, but that I couldn’t bring myself to throw away,” she said. “It seemed to me crazy when there were surely plenty of people within hundreds of metres of me who would love it. The problem was they just didn’t know about it.”

By matching up want and need, these innovative startups are helping individuals and businesses to more effectively preserve resources and pave the way to a more sustainable future.