SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): Australian investors have poured more than $1 million into plastics recycling service RecycleSmart, as co-founder Marco Prayer says he has invested his entire career to proving the business benefits of the circular economy.

Sydney-based RecycleSmart provides households with a way to dispose of recyclable plastics that are unsuitable for regular recycling bins, offering to pick up unwanted waste from a customer’s doorstep.

The startup accepts soft plastics, clothes, shoes, and small e-waste, with those materials sorted and transferred to specialist recycling partners like APR Plastics, Mobile Muster, and the Red Cross, which accepts unwanted but wearable clothing.

The company claims to have facilitated 115,000 pick-ups since 2019, keeping 400 tonnes of hard-to-recycle waste out of landfill.

RecycleSmart closed its Birchal equity crowdfunding raise on Thursday night, booking $1.04 million from 965 investors.

While the business got its start by selling its services to NSW councils, it now hopes to use the new funding to expand in capital cities nationwide, while expanding its DTC and B2B offerings.

Co-founder and chief technical officer Marco Prayer says RecycleSmart will use funding from the “astonishing” raise to power its launch in Melbourne, with the goal of covering as many major metro areas as possible by the end of 2023.

“We need to make sure that the recyclers have the capacity to manage, that we have the right infrastructure in place, that everything is safe, but so far, so good,” Prayer told SmartCompany on Monday.

Without delving into specific revenue figures, Prayer says RecycleSmart is enjoying “healthy” margins, and states its core business model is scalable, meaning expansion won’t come at too high a cost.

Courtesy: www.smartcompany.com.au