Yesterday Compology CEO and Co-Founder Jason Gates appeared before the Congressional Recycling Caucus to brief his members on the environmental and economic benefits of counting waste and how it can be deployed at scale to help meet the demands from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Recycling Strategy aims to increase the U.S. recycling rate to 50% by 2030 and reduce contamination from recycling waste and composting. The Congressional Recycling Caucus, co-chaired in the House by Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), David Joyce (R-OH-14), Haley Stevens (D-MI-11) and Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) and in the Senate by Senators Tom Carper (DD.E.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.), is a bipartisan, bicameral caucus whose goal is to educate members of the Congress and Congressional staff on the need for recycling and its environmental and economic benefits, and to support public policies aimed at increasing recycling across the United States.
Due to outdated infrastructure, much of the country’s waste ends up in landfills, which are responsible for 15% of total methane emissions in the United States. While many European countries recycle more than half of their total waste, the United States recycles less than a third. Decades of disinvestment in green technologies and poor recycling education prevent many recycling facilities from properly sorting highly contaminated materials, which ultimately leads to diversion 30% recyclable materials directly into landfills.
As one of the leading innovators in the recycling and waste industry, Gates provided attendees with insight into how Compology’s waste counting technology, powered by a smart camera and artificial intelligence, alleviates this problem and helps ensure that contaminants are identified and removed before waste collection, ensuring that more recyclable materials (and less of waste) enter recycling facilities. He demonstrated how metering waste can help achieve the five goals set out by the EPA in its 2021 National Recycling Strategy. He also pointed out that, similar to metering water, gas and electricity has fundamentally reshaped the way consumers, businesses and governments use and pay for these utilities, waste metering can provide the same benefits for waste and recycling management.
Gates also shared exciting results from Compology’s recent launch with the City of Miami. The city has implemented waste meters in its municipal dumpsters to reduce CO2 emissions, traffic congestion, noise pollution and illegal dumping, while improving code compliance and bolstering urban beautification efforts . Gates shared that early results from the pilot predicted a 50% increase in recycling rates in dozens of municipal buildings and thousands of tons of C02 reduced.
Gates went on to highlight how 1,300 brands, including McDonald’s, Apple and Google, have already implemented waste measurement technology to report on waste and recycling and reduce their organization’s environmental footprint, improve recycling rates and scale their waste service, eliminating unnecessary pick-ups and cuts. costs. Gates highlighted how the impactful environmental and economic results of the private sector can be replicated in the public sector.
“I very much appreciated the opportunity to brief key congressional personnel on the waste and recycling industry and opportunities for modernization. It is encouraging to discuss ways the federal government can partner with waste counter providers, like Compology, to generate $1-2 billion in savings for taxpayers and meet our national recycling goals.We are already helping businesses and local governments save money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to manage their waste and recycling more sustainably and believe in the exponential impact that counting waste can have on a large scale,” said Jason Gates. “We appreciate the dedication of the Congressional Recycling Caucus to tackle these important issues in a bipartisan and bicameral way, and we look forward to working with caucus members to advance policies i intelligent and common-sense solutions that promote increased recycling and smarter waste management.”
About Compology:
As the leading provider of intelligent camera and artificial intelligence solutions in waste and transportation, Compology helps move the world’s raw materials, finished products and waste with the smallest possible footprint. Compology, a Certified B Corporation headquartered in San Francisco, provides unprecedented visibility to the waste and trucking industries, serving some of the largest Fortune 500 companies, property management companies, transportation companies and waste trucking, waste brokers and service providers, cities and universities. . Each industry uniquely applies Compology’s core data points – fullness, content, location, and activity – to operate more efficiently and sustainably. Visit www.compology.com for more information.