Reduce, reuse and recycle are the three major tenets of fighting climate change. However, as it turns out, recycling isn’t actually that helpful anymore. Due to global market conditions and inefficiencies in the recycling industry, the majority of recyclable materials still end up in landfills.
In fact, many recyclable materials are rejected from major recycling facilities due to contamination. For example, plastics that are not properly washed before being discarded are often not able to be recycled. Recycling centers are also facing major staffing issues due in part to the Great Resignation, meaning there’s more waste to sort through but fewer people to do so.
One local company is trying to make a difference amid the country’s recycling crisis. Glacier, which launched out of stealth with $4.5 million in seed funding on Tuesday, builds AI-powered recycling robots capable of sorting over 30 different item types.
While Glacier isn’t the first company to make recycling sorting robots, the company says its model is 60 percent less expensive and pays for itself within one year. In comparison, Glacier says most of its competitors have a payback period of up to 10 years.
“Almost every facility is interested in robotic sorters but they’ve assumed robots are out of reach because of high cost and inconsistent ROI. Customers are shocked when they learn what Glacier offers,” Glacier co-founder Rebecca Hu said in a statement. “We’ve been overwhelmed by all the customer enthusiasm for our product.”
The company has run several successful pilots since its founding in 2019. Earlier this month, Glacier installed its first commercial robot at a large California recycling facility. Currently, the robot is sorting eight target materials on two conveyor belts simultaneously. The company said in a statement that more installations are under contract.
“Solving the recycling industry’s acute labor shortages with intelligent robotics and AI is a massive commercial opportunity but also an important step toward significantly reducing emissions and waste,” said Ann Bordetsky, a partner at New Enterprise Associates, which led Glacier’s seed funding round. “We’re proud to back Glacier’s experienced and passionate team as they introduce automation and data intelligence to an essential industry that we all rely on every day.”
Additional subscribers to Glacier’s seed round include former GE CEO Jeff Immelt, climate investor and former climate policymaker Sierra Peterson and former Uber CPO Manik Gupta.
