Dumpsters to Dollars

Quotes

“We have close to a hundred million images collected with our cameras that we use to keep training our algorithms to get better and better over time. The more dumpsters that we monitor, the better we can serve our customers, which is pretty cool.” [00:19:45]

Dumpsters to Dollars – Jason Gates

Compology CEO and co-founder Jason Gates believes that metering garbage, in the same way we monitor consumption of water, gas, and electricity, could be a fundamental breakthrough in the facilities management. Compology primarily conducts their business with facilities managers that have portfolios of locations – including everything between offices and restaurants. The primarily aim of Compology is to help these facilities managers mitigate how much they are spending on utilities and to manage their environmental footprint. Their theory is that by metering garbage production and gaining a better understanding of the waste any given facility produces, the company can both save on their utility bill and reduce the amount of garbage directed to landfills.

Saving the planet and saving money makes Compology a truly unique business, and in their success story, moving from their garage to serving thousands of customers was as straightforward as disrupting a longstanding industry practice. In 2013, with experiences in waste management for a construction company, Jason and his lifelong friend Ben began to seek solutions to the frustration Jason was experiencing at work. Dumpsters, it turns out, turned out to be a black box of frustration for many in the industry, and it turned out to be their point of entry. Jason identified two trends around him as a perfect storm for their idea to help facilities managers manage their waste more efficiently and sustainably. The first was the consumer trend towards wanting the companies they purchase from to prioritize environmental concerns, and the other was the restrictive regulations on managing waste.

Waste companies traditionally only provide facilities managers with the cubic yards of garbage produced per week through rudimentary and unreliable calculations. Compology, however, figured out the average dumpster is only 46% when collected – a huge waste. They decided to utilize cameras and artificial intelligence to better understand the composition of dumpsters and how often they were being serviced.Rather than having to guess which dumpsters they need and how often they need to plan for waste management services, Compology allows facilities managers to make informed decisions best suited for their business. For those that manage portfolios of properties, having the increased ability to monitor multiple facilities at a time. On average, Compology saves facilities managers 30-40% (!). Jason and Compology truly are offering facilities managers the dual incentives for saving money and the environment, and they’re poised to continue their work moving forward.

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innovation