Improving solar panel recycling. Sustainable diaper processing. Compostable packaging. Innovations that divert waste from landfills, and support recycling and reuse are essential to meet Washington’s climate and environmental goals. The NextCycle Washington business accelerator program funded by the Washington Department of Ecology, the Washington Recycling Market Development Center, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency helps support and develop those ideas.
NextCycle Washington selected 13 entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and small business teams from a field of applicants across the state. NextCycle Washington will provide the teams with consulting, technical, business and marketing support, and help them connect with potential partners, suppliers, and funders in a six-month program. After six months, the teams will compete in a pitch showcase for monetary awards.
“Over the last 25 years, Washington’s recycling rate has slipped while the amount of waste we produce per person keeps growing,” said Peter Lyon, head of Ecology’s Solid Waste Management program. “We need innovation and fresh ideas to improve recycling and reduce waste – and the NextCycle Washington program is helping us find those new approaches.”
Learn about the 2024 NextCycle teams and how they’re reducing waste:
- Atlan LLC (White Salmon): Back to Life Biochar & Soil Regeneration Services is seeking to scale its biochar (carbon and ash residue remaining after controlled burning of downed trees, vegetation, etc.) soil amendment and compost business by developing branding and marketing, as well as making connections across multiple communities and organizations to upgrade equipment, capture more food waste, and replicate this process for other forest landholders. This project will help divert more food waste and organic material from landfills, in addition to reducing CO2 emissions and rebuilding the soil food web with high-quality soil.
- Biomass Controls, PBC (Woodstock, Conn.): Biomass Controls is seeking to locate a facility in Washington state that will process absorbent hygiene products (AHP), specifically post-consumer sustainable diapers, and is seeking connections to funding and financing, site identification and permitting, and partnerships with agencies that work with families and provide assistance with diapers. This project will help reduce AHP materials going to landfills, reduce methane from untreated organic materials, and prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere.
- Corumat, Inc. (Yakima): Corumat is seeking to develop The Big Green Loop® – a packaging ecosystem where compostable materials and food waste are collected and recycled back into more compostable packaging. The team will work to refine their business plan and pitch, identify funding pathways, and engage and build a coalition of supporters. This project will divert food and organic waste from landfills, displace carbon-intensive manufactured products, and reduce the impact on climate change.
- Electra Network, LLC (Bellingham): Electra is seeking to merge a product registry with product stewardship to enable better lifecycle management of solar panels. This online platform will track and coordinate end-of-life collection and logistics to ensure panels are efficiently reused or recycled. During NextCycle Washington, the team will refine the online platform, identify funding pathways, and galvanize partnerships across the industry. This project will help optimize the recovery of materials that can be reincorporated into the supply chain and divert materials from landfills.
- Furniture Repair Bank (Seattle): Furniture Repair Bank is transitioning from a pilot project collecting and repairing worn/damaged furniture for donation to those in need to a standalone non-profit. During NextCycle Washington, the team will refine its business and operational plans, solidify its revenue streams, and identify funding pathways. This project will divert furniture from landfills, avoiding carbon emissions and utilizing safer alternatives to toxic materials seen in new furniture production.
- Making a Difference Foundation (Tacoma): Making a Difference Foundation, the sponsoring agency for the Farm to Full Bellies program, is seeking to identify funding pathways and to connect with new partners to renovate a space to support black, indigenous, and people of color farmers and expand capacity to glean culturally relevant crops for distribution through Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank. This project will help to decrease food waste while providing healthy food to those facing food insecurity.
- NaturallyContained (Seattle): NaturallyContained is currently launching its reusable and compostable coco fiber packaging that is renewably sourced, responsibly manufactured, and fully backyard compostable with no special facility or processing necessary. The team is seeking to connect with Washington’s gardening industry, identify funding pathways, and gain visibility in the marketplace. The project will help to reduce materials going to landfills and encourage material reuse.
- Reclaim Project Recovery (Spokane): Reclaim Project Recovery, a program helping men transition out of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration, is seeking funding pathways to assist with expanding and sustaining the Fiddy Club, a membership-based reuse, repurpose, and recycling store. This project will provide jobs, divert materials from landfills, create a local circular economy, provide equitable access to materials, and bring hope and momentum for rehabilitation in local communities.
- Remakery (Tacoma): Remakery, a non-profit organization providing workshops to educate the community on reusing post-consumer materials, is seeking to pilot a micro-recycling program for hard-to-recycle plastics. During the NextCycle Washington program, the team will work to refine a business plan, connect with community partners, and identify funding pathways. This project will help divert hard-to-recycled plastics from landfills.
- Re-Use Consulting (Bellingham): Re-Use Consulting, a firm creating and improving circular businesses, is seeking to strengthen and link Reuse Innovation Centers across the state into a network that can coordinate supplies and redistribute materials to prevent waste. During the NextCycle Washington program, the team will work on connecting with manufacturers and businesses, identifying funding pathways, and creating awareness. This project will help divert materials from landfills, generate less greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy consumption.
- Revino (Newberg, Ore.): Revino is seeking to enter the Washington marketplace with its reusable, returnable wine bottle system. During the NextCycle Washington program, the team will work to refine their business model and operational plans to fit Washington’s unique market and connect with distribution and wine industry partners. This project will reduce CO2 emissions and reposition the typically single-use glass wine bottle into a high-volume (25+ times) reusable glass wine bottle ecosystem.
- Revolve Solar (Seattle): Revolve Solar is seeking advance from the prototype stage to production of its secondhand solar panel-powered carports and chargers for electric vehicles. During the NextCycle Washington program, the team will work to refine the business plan, connect with potential partners, conduct customer and market validation, and identify funding pathways. This project will increase the availability of clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and divert materials from landfills.
- Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network (TSWAN) (Tekoa): TSWAN is building a pilot program with four rural tribes to set up a hub-and-spoke recycling system. The team is seeking support with planning equipment needs, identifying potential material end markets, and examining potential material reuse on tribal lands. This project aims to increase recycling in the four tribal communities by 25%, and to reduce illegal dumping and littering, protect ecosystems, create jobs, and divert materials from landfills.
NextCycle Washington is an initiative of the Washington Department of Ecology and the Washington Recycling Market Development Center, with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additional support is provided by the Washington State Department of Commerce and the Seattle Office of Economic Development.
The program is facilitated by RRS, Cascadia Consulting Group, Start Consulting and Traversal. This is the second year for the NextCycle Washington program. In its first year, NextCycle Washington supported 15 accelerator teams, provided 41 seed grants, and helped raise over $20 million in investor funds. The program also led to 70 new jobs and helped divert 4 million pounds of material away from landfills.
For more information, visit http://www.nextcyclewashington.com/.