Startups are constantly thinking of new ways to solve old problems, and recycling is an area ripe for reinvention.
That’s the picture painted by Ridwell, a waste-diversion company based in Seattle, Washington.
This supplementary recycling “B Corp” wants to give Silicon Valley consumers another method of keeping junk out of landfill. But, despite plenty of interest, it’s become frozen in a sort of purgatory in the West Valley market.
As society becomes more aware of the impact of consumption, companies like Ridwell offer a glimpse into what the sustainability paradigm of the future could look like.
However, the current recycling hauler, Waste Connections—through its subsidiary West Valley Collection and Recycling (aka West Valley Recycles)—says, not so fast.
That’s because it has the exclusive collection license for nearly all materials in Campbell, Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos (which operates under a Joint Powers Authority to deal with waste and recycling).
And West Valley Recycles claims to want to be in charge of diverting hard-to-recycle items, now that Ridwell is pushing to expand service in the Bay Area.
Earlier this year, the nonprofit California Communities Against Toxics filed a lawsuit against Waste Connections for allegedly failing to warn Californians they were being exposed to benzene—which causes cancer, birth defects and other problems—related to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Southern California.
Ridwell was founded in 2018. It recycles things that can’t go in regular curbside bins, under a subscription model.
The company already operates in nearly 50 communities in the region, and its officials say they have 800 households on their wait list, just in this corner of the Bay Area.
Ridwell says Waste Connections has been blocking them from helping these local consumers.
“The contract between a city and a garbage hauler is called a franchise agreement,” Ridwell spokesperson Emily Newcomer said, arguing in an interview that “how they define recyclable materials and solid waste doesn’t overlap with…the items that Ridwell would pick up.”
Multiple requests for comment from Waste Connections elicited only this statement:
“West Valley Collection and Recycling (WVC&R) is the contracted organics, recycle, and garbage collection service provider for the West Valley Solid Waste Management Authority (WVSWMA). The WVSWMA is a group of municipalities (Los Gatos, Campbell, Monte Sereno, and Saratoga) which have joined together to manage a single contract for these services. We have presented to the WVSWMA and are currently discussing options for collecting and recycling various items not allowed in the current curbside program and look forward to partnering in implementing the services that best fits the needs of these communities. Thank you.”
At the Nov. 5 meeting, both Ridwell and Waste Connections made their pitches.
Ridwell highlighted the Bay Area partners they already work with—Fry’s Metals, Call2Recycle, NationalRecycle.com, Evergreen IT Solutions and Goodwill, among others.
“Before we go and transact and give a nonprofit something, we will have 20 conversations with them…a year in advance, because these nonprofits don’t have the manpower to deal with excess goods,” a Ridwell rep said. “One in five partners make it through our vetting process.”
(Ridwell)
Waste Connections said they were looking at offering a “+” service tier, but noted it could be dependent on getting plastics manufacturers to contribute money.
Afterwards, Ridwell’s legal team followed up in hopes of sorting things out by the May board meeting.
However, here we are—seven months later—with no resolution in sight.
A WVSWMA official told the Los Gatan, Monday, they’re still waiting for legal advice before moving forward.
Ridwell is not unique in offering optional recycling. A Campbell-based service, called “Tiny Tots,” collects diapers.
And a WVSWMA member noted during the November public hearing that Taco Bell has never been dinged for the supplementary recycling they offer.
One prospective West Valley customer, Doranne Hardt, says she’d be happy to pay extra to have Ridwell come and grab the sorts of things Waste Connections won’t collect.
“I am looking for a service like Ridwell, because I am frustrated with recycling in our country and the extreme amount of plastic we waste,” she said. “I wish the manufacturers were responsible for recycling their products. But they aren’t, so I am trying to do what I can.”
Then-Los Gatos mayor Mary Badame said she was open to allowing Ridwell to operate in the West Valley.
Ridwell representatives promised to comply with all applicable regulations.
“I want to take a moment really just to note here that we have reviewed the franchise contract in some detail,” a rep said. “The exclusivity—we do not see the language to support that it covers things that couldn’t be done. And that’s what we’re talking about on the hard-to-recycle side—the items that are not on that recycle list under the franchise.”
In an exclusive interview, Ridwell’s CEO, Ryan Metzger, shared his passion for diverting items from landfills with the Los Gatan.
“The future is one where there is less waste,” he said, noting they’ve grown to a 250-employee-strong company that operates in eight metro areas.
He recalled how, back in the day, he’d go on pickup routes with his son, Owen, to gather things like batteries and light bulbs. Then, they’d research who might want the items.
Eventually, more people joined them.
“Our first pickup as Ridwell was in the fall of 2018,” he said. “The future of Ridwell is millions of people saying no to landfills—really proving that small things can add up. We crossed 30 million pounds (of recycled or diverted material) recently.”
Covid hit shortly after Ridwell launched. They realized—given that they were going to people’s doors each day—that they could partner with food banks to use their network for a different purpose.
Most recently, after expanding to the LA area in December 2023, Ridwell organized an exchange drive in the wake of the LA fires.
“Traditional recycling services go in one place, which is called an MRF (material recovery facility)—which is just in one spot,” Metzger said. “They take all that mixed recycling and dump it into a MRF. Then, there are a few machines that try to separate (the different materials).”
He adds that Ridwell works with a large variety of organizations to deal with even tiny items like bread tags and plastic bottle caps.
