plastic-recycling
(3)
The business beneath the parking lot
Advanced Drainage Systems turns buried space into room for rain. Its next move shows why a company built on plastic pipe is looking beyond plastic.
Safi
Safi is a climate-tech company building software for the recycling industry. It launched in 2021 as TrueCircle and first operated the recycling sector's first digital B2B marketplace, matching international buyers and sellers of recyclable plastics, paper and metals with quality verification, logistics and embedded financing. The company reached more than $40M in annualized GMV within its first year. It has since sharpened its focus on AI-powered quality control - a computer-vision product that turns a phone photo of a bale into instant composition data for PET, HDPE and aluminium cans, helping recyclers price and plan material more accurately. Led by CEO Rishi Stocker, Safi raised a $19.5M Series A in 2023 and works with recyclers across dozens of countries.
Olyns
Olyns is a California-based climate-tech company that builds the Olyns Cube, an AI-powered reverse vending machine that lets shoppers recycle beverage containers at retail locations in exchange for cash refunds or rewards. Each Cube doubles as a digital advertising screen, so revenue from brand ads funds the cost of collecting and sorting material - making consumer recycling profitable and scalable without relying on the low value of the plastic itself.