46 Innovative Recycling Startups Worth A Follow In 2021

February 7, 2021

This article showcases Startup Pill’s top picks for the best Recycling startups. These startups are taking a variety of approaches to innovating inside of the Recycling industry and around the world. They are all exceptional startups well worth a follow.

We tried to pick companies across the size spectrum from cutting edge startups to established brands.

We selected these startups for exceptional performance in one of these categories:

  • Innovation
    • Innovative ideas
    • Innovative route to market
    • Innovative product
  • Growth
    • Exceptional growth
    • Exceptional growth strategy
  • Management
  • Societal impact

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Top Recycling Startups

Data sourced from Crunchbase and SemRush.

Greyparrot

Greyparrot

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Greyparrot provides AI-based waste recognition software to power next-generation smart systems that will monitor & sort waste at scale. Our mission is to digitise waste & create a world where waste is captured & reused in the most effective way.

Our vision is of a fully digitised, automated and transparent waste system to unlock the financial value of waste, which will in turn keep our planet clean for generations to come.. .

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Bower

Bower

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Bower® is a deposit solution for all packages or products. Bower® wants to reduce the number of packages or products that end up in the garbage and in the environment by giving the it a value in monetary terms in the form of a pledge/deposit – just like empty bottles and beer cans.

This gives the consumer an incentive to recycle the package. Our world-unique position-based scanning technology enables consumers to receive a deposit value in their mobile phone when recycling their packaging at pinpointed places.

Our solution can be connected to all sorts of packaging – everything from plastic bags to take-away mugs to products. There is no longer any need to invest in expensive reverse vending machines – instead, consumers are able to recycle at already existing recycling stations or at othe pinpointed locations selected by connected consumer brands.

centivizing recycling with financial means is a proven way to increase recycling rates. Bower® is a mobile app that enables consumer brands to put a deposit value on their packaging – either in the form of money or points.

By doing so, they take a greater responsibility for their packaging and, at the same time, get a direct relationship to their end-consumers through the app. To create a deposit system is simpler than it sounds.

There is already a habitual behavior to visit deposit stations. Bower® only reinforces this behavior by giving incentives to actually visit the deposit station..

Equis

Equis

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Equis is renewable energy and waste infrastructure, developer.

2B0

2B0

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

2B0 is patented technology that integrates Sustainability as a Platform (SaaP) solutions for residential and commercial applications.

AZUL Energy

AZUL Energy

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

AZUL Energy provides next-generation energy devices.

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JanOne

JanOne

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

JanOne is focused on developing treatments for diseases that cause severe pain. By alleviating pain at the source, JanOne aims to reduce the need for opioid prescriptions to treat disease associated pain that can lead to opioid abuse.

The company is also exploring solutions for non-addictive pain medications. Its lead candidate JAN101 is for treating peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition that affects over 8.5 million Americans.

JAN101 demonstrated positive results in a Phase 2a clinical trial, and Phase 2b trials are expected to begin in early 2021.. .

GKAT Reclamation

GKAT Reclamation

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

GKAT Reclamation is providing an ecologically safe recycling method and lowering your carbon footprint.

Veridis

Veridis

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Improved quality control for plastic recycling

Circular Brain

Circular Brain

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Circular Brain is a Technology Startup that creates digital solutions in the Circular Economy.

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Givo

Givo

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Givo is a dynamic organization that primarily focuses on offering a wide range of recycling solutions using IoT enabled devices.

Scindo

Scindo

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Scindo is a cleantech start-up harnessing the power of enzymes to recycle the unrecyclables. We are targeting plastics that cannot be efficiently recycled with current methodologies, to turn them into high-value molecules that can be used in a plethora of industries.

We are creating a more circular economy for plastics by developing an alternative to landfills and incineration.. .

Scrapays

Scrapays

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Scrapays is a Cleantech Startup, Fusing Recycling, Technology and Finance. Uses technology to facilitate a decentralized recovery model of recyclable waste in developing nations.

Allows Individuals and Enterprises get paid for their recyclable waste and their “Out-of-Use” items using a suite of technologies; USSD, Mobile and Web App. Scrapays facilitate this recovery of recyclables by providing a software based (USSD,Web, Mobile App) recovery network, consisting of all four categories in the value chain, who are independent businesses and producers.

We provide them with the infrastructure and tools to help them control recyclable material recovery while creating self-managed businesses from it. Scrapays is for Individuals and Enterprises who are looking to make money or get better return from recyclable waste and Out-of-Use scrap-able items.

We allow individuals who have open spaces to Host collection outlets, become local Collectors or manage operations by being a vendor. Allowing Individuals and Enterprises get paid for their recyclable waste.

while duly rewarding all partners commission per kilogram recovered. The decentralized recovery network follows an architecture that allows Individual list their open space as Recyclable Hosting Location (call it AirBnB for recyclables), this hosting location is manage by Vendors and Collectors are the mobile field soldiers that collects the recyclables in their mapped zone (call this Uber for recyclables)..

Concular

Concular

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Platform is digitalizing the process of circular construction material procurement

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Marda Swimwear

Marda Swimwear

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

MARDA is a modern men’s swimwear brand obsessed with creating a better world by using plastic from the oceans and landfills to make premium swim shorts that are made to last. Their philosophy finds the harmony between plastic and design to create highly sustainable swim trunks bought to life with the best in Japanese fabric technology.

The driving force behind MARDA is simple. To design swimwear for men by unifying exclusive forward designs with a highly green focus.

Buying a Marda product is about joining a lifestyle that cares about the future. Every production step, from sourcing 100% recycled materials, to the design aesthetic right through to fabric innovation, is enriched by the creative touch and profound love for the earth..

Borobabi

Borobabi

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Borobabi is America’s first circular economy for children’s wear.

EQUAL

EQUAL

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Social impact marketplace where everyone gives and takes equally.

BUHO

BUHO

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

BUHO is a sustainable fashion & lifestyle platform with products for women, men, kids & home under one banner for the first time. We’re rooted in an uncompromising commitment to sustainable contemporary fashion that’s easy to find, fun to wear, and earth-loving.

Our company was born out of a belief that fashion can do better, because we know better. By combining fashion and social impact, BUHO provides consumers the opportunity to shop by the values most important to them.

As an active member of 1% For the Planet, BUHO commits to donate 1% of all sales to support environmental programs and is a fully circular business with biodegradable packaging and an easy recycle program that distributes items to one of our non-profit partners repurposes it into new materials. We are currently going through our B-Corp Certification Process..

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the fortunate planet

the fortunate planet

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

The fortunate planet is where people and technology meet to solve global challenges – together. In the first version of the fortunate planet application we’re changing the global waste management.

The platform empowers communities to contribute where to dispose waste correctly, add new disposal stations and track their waste disposals to improve the way we manage waste around the globe. By harnessing the power of community, the fortunate planet can create a world where recycling rates will constantly rise and less waste enters the nature..

TicInsect

TicInsect

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

TicInsect cascades organic food waste into sustainable proteins for animal feed through a bioconversion process based on Hermetia Illucens.

akksel

akksel

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Have you ever thought about what happens to the hundreds of millions of electric vehicles battery packs that have been discarded? What is becoming more and more clear is that the biggest challenge for recycling/disposal is neither the quality of the batteries (which normally is fine), nor to find suitable applications. We’re making sure batteries are coming back! We’re connecting buyers with suppliers through an exponentially growing value network to guarantee added value with each transaction through our marketplace, ecosystem and advanced analytics.

The modular platform invites partners and communities to co-create and collaborate: ° A Composition Environment to plan and build flexible and innovative business processes. ° Business Suite & Industry Processes modularized and exposed through Enterprise Services allow integration to 3rd party applications and legacy systems at low TCO.

° An extensible repository of Enriched Enterprise Data and a Blockchain Ledger for analytical processes, AI services and fraud-safe transactions. ° An Integration Platform to integrate at the people-, information- and process- level and run service-enabled business applications.

With our vast experience in developing global interoperable platforms connecting a holistic set of stakeholders, we are fostering exponential organization models in the area of digitization and globalization. Hence, we reduce environmental pollution, costs and exploitation of people and nature by linking producers and consumers of limited resources..

Skizo

Skizo

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Every year, millions of tons of garbage reach the sea. Textile technology enables us to upcycle plastic collected from the Ocean into new yarn, that we use to produce high quality products.

We decided to team up with fishermen focusing on the elimination of waste from the Ocean. Currently, they are collecting plastic from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition to efforts in Europe, they also gather plastic from oceans surrounding West Africa and as far as the Java Sea by Indonesia. At Skizo, we care deeply about our planet as well as the health of our oceans and the life within them.

Our partners are not alone in the fight for a better environment, we are in this together.. .

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Scrap Yard India

Scrap Yard India

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Scrap Yard India is a Digital Platform for Automobile Recycling. Software, Mobile Apps, Supply chain Management, online Marketplace.

Diversys Software

Diversys Software

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Diversys Software is a recycling management software that offers environmental services.

We Recycle Solar

We Recycle Solar

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

We Recycle Solar is innovating lifecycle management for your photovoltaic devices. We’re bringing decades of expertise in asset recovery and electronics recycling to the solar industry.

We Recycle Solar is your single-source disposal provider for excess, recalled, and end-of-life solar products.. .

recircular

recircular

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

recircular is an active platform that connects businesses for the valorization of waste as raw materials.

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SORDITenture

SORDITenture

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

SORDITenture is a Digital Marketing and E-waste recycling company. Wherein E-junki arm is solely dedicated to the E-waste management solution in India, services offered are E-waste collection at doorstep, E-waste recycling, E-waste awareness podcast on the youtube, Data recovery & Destruction.

Sordit media arm provides extensive digital marketing services to the E-junki and other businesses who want to grow organically via the powerful tool of social media marketing.. .

De Clique

De Clique

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

De Clique collects organic resources from urban environments and uses it as materials for the production of local products.

Bampoo

Bampoo

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Bampoo’s mission is to save the Earth, one poop at a time, with our super soft and eco-friendly bamboo toilet paper.

Precycles

Precycles

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Precycles produces a sustainable Circular Economy, increasing recycling rates and reducing landfill end-up bottles.

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CorNatural

CorNatural

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

CorNatural develops bio-based sustainable products to offer a range of natural products. The company aims to upcycle waste streams into value-added products, using pioneering synthetic biology and genetic engineering techniques.

CorNatural was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in London.. .

Warranium Energy

Warranium Energy

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Warranium Energy is a leading plant engineering company for industrial water treatment, water circulation, wastewater treatment and chemical, solid waste management and renewable energy with headquarters in the New Delhi, India. Warranium Energy is named as ‘Warranium Energy Private Limited’.

Warranium Energy was founded on the belief that the built environment can change people’s lives for the better. Every day, everywhere, we strive to meet this aim – helping clients solve their biggest challenges by harnessing our diverse skills and constantly expanding what’s technically possible.

We are a creative team of engineers, designers, technicians, and strategic thinkers who are passionate about utilising the biological and renewable technology in waste control and management. We are determined to conceptualise, design, and deliver solutions that fit the client’s unique needs.

As the population grows and urbanisation continues, the pressure on water resources is increased. We’re addressing this by developing innovative solutions, like the aerobic and anaerobic treatment and the reuse of wastewater technology.

Providing access to clean water and sanitation to all is the absolute initial move towards equivalent living conditions for everyone on this planet. Our engineers, designers, technicians, and strategic thinkers consult on the plan, build, and maintain water treatment plants that are tailored to the respective customer requirements.

Plant solutions for water recycling, resource recycling, zero discharge requirements or biogas generation help to save valuable resources and energy. We’ve been experts in water, wastewater and waste management for ten years.

Glycol Blender

Glycol Blender

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Glycol Blender is a Syracuse-based glycol supplier and recycler.

Demogate

Demogate

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Demogate is a trading platform that helps in decision making in ship recycling services through digital tools coupled with hands-on advice.

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Circul'Egg

Circul’Egg

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Circul’Egg recycles the eggshells from companies by transforming them into two finished products: a calcium carbonate powder and a shell membrane powder. It promotes industrial co-products in the circular economy.

The company’s products are marketable on the animal feed and nutraceutical markets. This production responds to a need expressed by many players in animal feed (PetFood and feed for farm animals), nutraceuticals (food supplements for human consumption), and cosmetics.

It was established in Paris, Ile-de-France, France in. .

ARGO360

ARGO360

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

ARGO360 provides a complete ITAD plan & specializes in data removal and electronics recycling.

Remeant Technologies Ltd.

Remeant Technologies Ltd.

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Remeant Technologies Ltd. provides Sustainable fabric that can be used for vegan clothing, vegan bags, cushions and more

Moderate Art and Furniture

Moderate Art and Furniture

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Moderate Art and Furniture restores, re-engines, converts and re-engines wood, metal and leather to create furniture and pieces of art.

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Bouddi

Bouddi

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Bouddi is a brand of environmentally friendly products.

Svensk Plaståtervinning

Svensk Plaståtervinning

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Svensk Plaståtervinning helps in collecting and recycling of plastic packaging materials.

Otkup automobila Srbija

Otkup automobila Srbija

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Otkup automobila Srbija, DeltaTop – mi postojimo i poslujemo više od 20 godina. Bavimo se otkupom polovnih, havarisanih, starih automobila i teretnjaka svih tipova i vrsta.

Nudimo odlične uslove i cene za otkup automobila i drugih vozila u svim gradovima i opštinama u Srbiji. Otkup i procenu vrednosti vašeg vozila vršimo u istom danu, bez obzira na pređenu kilometražu automobila, stanje i godište proizvodnje..

Organik

Organik

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Retiro de Residuos orgánicos

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PUREMELTING

PUREMELTING

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Plug&Play silver and gold refining and recycling

Everywhere Apparel

Everywhere Apparel

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Everywhere Apparel manufactures clothes created from recycled textiles intended to clean the earth while clothing the planet. The company’s apparel is made from recycled materials and it transforms cotton scraps and plastic bottles into sustainable apparel without compromising fit, comfort, or durability, enabling people to avail low-cost apparel while also reducing environmental wastes.

Nick Benavides and Maxwell Citron established the company in 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.. .

Meraxis

Meraxis

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Meraxis provides recycling, polymer recycling, logistics, and commodities services.

More Than Waste

More Than Waste

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

More Than Waste specializes in producing sustainable products with unique design out of plastic waste material.

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Simple is Best

Simple is Best

Crunchbase | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Simple is Best delivers reuse and recycle products to those who want to use them.