Traverse City hosted a pitch competition this week for local, state and national solutions to diverting waste from landfills. NextCycle Michigan — an initiative of the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy — brought together businesses to compete for investors, funding and partners for recycling efforts that spanned from composting food in Detroit’s urban farms to reusing materials from decommissioned wind turbine blades.
Fifteen teams had five minutes to pitch their solution, then five minutes to answer questions from judges. “It’s very ‘Shark Tank’-esque,” said Elisa Seltzer, program director for NextCycle and a senior consultant with Resource Recycling Systems.
Carter’s Compost, based in Traverse City, was one of the teams participating. Owner Megan Alexander pitched her idea to expand food waste collection from downtown to surrounding rural areas through a network of collection boxes. She said her idea could be replicated in other rural areas.