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Ep 2: Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli on Turning Complex Waste Data Tracking Into Actionable Insights
18 Plays6 months ago
In Episode 2 of Sustainability Square 1, Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli, Co-Founder of WATS, a waste management software platform, joins GLYNT.AI’s CEO Martha Amram to tackle the challenges of waste management in business. Meredith describes her career path from urban sustainability to pioneering data-driven waste reduction, and shares how WATS’ platform turns complex waste data tracking into actionable insights. Listen in for insights on navigating the inconsistencies in waste data, and how when data issues are conquered, “waste as a resource” can cut costs and boost sustainability.
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Transcript
Introduction to Sustainability with Meredith
00:00:00
Speaker
what what
00:00:07
Speaker
Hi, Meredith, and thank you so much for doing an interview with Glenn on so our seat video series, Sustainability Square One. This is the voice of leaders from sustainability because so much is going on so quickly. We just want to get grounded with the voices from the front lines. So thanks for talking with us today.
Meredith's Journey into Sustainability
00:00:25
Speaker
Hey, Martha. Thanks for having me. So my first question is, what got you into this world of sustainability? And you're in a particular part that's so confusing and amazing at the same time, which is waste. So tell us about that. Oh, boy. um Yeah, I've been doing work um at the intersection of waste and sustainability since 2011. My master's degree is in urban policy and sustainability management. And it was through my master's program that I actually found trash. My master's degree um is through the New School in New York. And um I was lucky enough through that program to travel to Beirut and Lebanon in the summer of 2011. And it was through that program, I was placed with a nonprofit organization that wanted to learn about zero waste, wanted to see if their farm to table restaurant could be zero waste the summer that I was working with them. um I taught myself how to do a waste audit, um came back to New York and realized like, wait a minute, um I've you know learned about composting, helped this restaurant, like figure out how to compost, um had totally caught the bug over the summer. Ended up actually going back to Beirut, lived there for 15 months, started a nonprofit with my now husband and really never looked back, honestly. um Moved back to New York, um worked in kind of zero waste operations, composting, electronics recycling, actually, with the Lower East Side Ecology Center in New York City.
Data Challenges in Waste Management
00:02:10
Speaker
And um organics recycling was really the passion that drove a lot of this. um And I found my co-founder through organics recycling in New York City. We worked or we both volunteered with the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board. um So it was just a lot of trash, um trashiness in New York City that that really drove a lot of this. um And that work really wove both of us through this path of working with businesses, trying to help businesses grow waste reduction programs.
00:02:45
Speaker
And through doing this work, we recognized there's a data problem here. um And we kept seeing this recurring issue of the opportunity that existed in trying to improve systems with data and then lacking tools to do that.
Introducing Watts: A Waste Data Solution
00:03:03
Speaker
um And we saw a massive opportunity to build a business focused on that. Yeah. And so can you tell us a little bit about Watts? That's where you are today and that's what you've built. So what does Watts do and for whom? Yes. Watts stands for Waste Administration and Tracking Software. And it is a software platform that uses waste data to deliver insights that drive recommendations to help businesses understand what steps they can take to reduce waste and save money. um So the platform is built on a foundation of waste data. um Watts ingests waste data from multi-site businesses. So we're focused on especially commercial real estate, but really any business that has multiple locations and is serviced by lots of vendors um is really the the target industry for us. And the idea is to help businesses simplify the complexity of um having multiple municipalities, multiple vendors, lots of stakeholders and lots of waste streams. um What are they supposed to do with all of these different materials? Where are they supposed to go? There are 9,800 different municipal waste programs in the United States. because We don't standardize things. um We have decentralized everything. And in a lot of ways, decentralization can be good. But when it comes to um waste programs, it's really complicated for people. though That means, I'll back up a little bit, 9,800 different programs means different infrastructure in different places. So different material types go in different places. So your plastic bottles might be accepted in one town and not in another, or your glass might be recyclable in one place and not in another, even though glass is almost infinitely recyclable. And so Watts is um simplifying that complexity, helping businesses understand how much they're paying for what services and then where there are opportunities. um Let's say I have 400 locations, which 400 of my locations um present an opportunity? Where can I save money and how? Is it because 20% of my sites are impacted by contamination fees and
Customer Experiences with Watts
00:05:26
Speaker
overages? um Is it because 12% of my sites are perhaps located in municipalities where um there's legislation that actually says that trash is the most expensive waste stream? And therefore, my businesses in those 12% of locations could save money if I train those staff to recycle better, or if I encourage my tenants to recycle better, and I could actually structure my fees so that my tenants could save money as well. um Or where waste reduction is a priority. um Maybe we can um incentivize a reduction differently. So the platform is structured in a way that data ah is is ingested in a number of different ways. um And then the platform delivers insights kind of by distilling the data, delivers insights, and then filters recommendations based on the goals of the businesses, based on the budgets, based on the regulatory environment, and a number of different variables so that businesses can understand what actual actions they should take to be able to drive towards those goals that they have, whether it's cost savings, waste reduction, et cetera.
Inspiration and Aspirations in Sustainability
00:06:45
Speaker
Cool. So I imagine you have a ah customer conversation every week where somebody's eyes light up and sparkle. Tell us about one of those because that drives this home, I think. Yeah, it's we're an early stage company and I think my eyes sparkle as much as the customers do a lot of the time. We're trash people. you know were're were um we're We're waste nerds, um waste reduction, circular economy enthusiasts. And the companies that we talk to for the most part are early adopter entities. They are um stakeholders in these companies who have been trying to do this work on their own. um They are um sword wielders, if you will, um who have been kind of or machete wielders, maybe, i' kind of whacking through the forest, um trying to build their own tools internally, trying to use spreadsheets and PDFs in the same way that we were, um trying to, as as I think, Martha, you and I have talked about so many times, um trying to parse data out of waste invoices can be very challenging, um trying to do it on their own. And the first time they see the platform that we've built, they're like, oh my God, I had no idea this existed. This yeah is, it's so much of what I had dream dreamed or never even dreamed could exist. I can't believe you've done this. And it's so validating, you know, um, to recognize that, uh, what we're building meets the need and that it aligns with, um, with the, with the stakeholders that we're, um, that we're trying to solve problems for. Um, so yeah, that sparkle, um, yeah, it's one of the many many things things that gets us out of the bed in the morning. So last year I wrote a blog post for on behalf of our company saying what I was thankful for around the time of Thanksgiving. And in that case, it was standards harmonization around the world, which made our lives a lot easier. This year, I am so devoting that blog post to the kind of people you just described, which are what I call the scouts, the heroes, the pioneers, you call them the bushwhackers. It's amazing how many people have really dug in and are doing you know heroic effort on behalf of their companies with mind and heart and so many nights and weekends. um I'm just really impressed and I'm so proud to get to work with them. So that gives me, you know, we're all fighting against shifting tides. It's going in, it's going out, you know, things are going on. And that gives me just grounding like that gives me a lot of hope. So if you think of what gives you, you know, what is your next aspiration? What is your next hope for the people that you're working with, both on your customers and your team? Where does that go for you next? Oh, I love this question. um One of the biggest pieces, let me think. um We just got out of an of an offsite. Last week, we were all in Chattanooga, Tennessee, um which was an excellent opportunity to all be together in person. um And one of the best things to come out of that offsite was probably a regrounding. um My co-founder Laura and I ah have a really huge vision. um We've been doing this work for so long that we see how much needs to be built in order to solve the problems for those bushwhackers, whatever you want to call them, um in order to give them the tools that they need to do their work more efficiently. um We initially chose to build software because we wanted to be able to digitize and scale the knowledge that we had absorbed over a decade plus of doing this work. And we recognized that um we weren't able to reach enough people in the way that we'd been doing it before. And in meeting with our team last week, one of the things that, you know, I think they say to us relatively frequently, but it helps to all be in the same room is like, we can't build it all at once. but but um And our roadmap is long and broad. um And it was a helpful regrounding to, and also a very motivating and reinvigorating opportunity to see the entire team um get behind our current focus, which is insights and recommendations. bob We've built
Enhancing Materials Processing in America
00:11:40
Speaker
the foundational um requirement of of data management, data ingestion, that scaffolding that we need. And now we're focused on, we've built kind of 1.0 for insights. And now we're really focused on building like the the zippy the zippy um functions. And what I would say for the stakeholders that are using the platform that we're building these tools for, and what I'm excited about for them, is that these tools, the way we're thinking about them, the way that we're thinking about the experience for them, um is that we want to build WOTs in a way that makes their work more efficient, and that helps them get raises, that helps them um present the work that they've done um in in a way that says waste can help our company. Waste can help our business operate not only in a way that's more environmentally responsible, but in a way that's more fiscally responsible um over time, maybe not tomorrow, but as the circular economy grows, waste can help companies make money. um And we as kind of collective humans might not see that yet because we still see waste as waste. and We still see it as trash. um But materials are resources. um Raw materials are resources. ah And waste materials are resources as well if they are properly separated and sorted and treated and moved. And that's really the vision with Watts. Right now, ah our um American economy doesn't have the um complexity, maybe I'll i'll use that as a word, um to be able to accept and aggregate as many of the material types as we need it to, in order to be able to process and value all of the materials that we as Americans discard, but we could, we can, um and we need to.
Public Participation in Recycling Programs
00:13:59
Speaker
And that's really a big piece of the vision. um And the stakeholders that use the platform are an essential part of building that economy. It's true. You and I may have passion and data and you know expertise, but until the rest of the world has those tools and becomes their own company experts, we're stuck, right? And so we're always out there in that education mode. Recently, I was in Europe and it started pouring rain. I was in a park, so I just dashed into the local museum, turned out to be the design museum, which was having an exhibition on sustainable fashion. And so it's really cool because the first thing it was an infographic about what how would you measure sustainability in fashion. And then the rest of it were actual designs, including by Stella McCarthy and other famous designers using the principles. But what surprised me in that exhibit was if you had 100% polyester garment, it does it recycles a lot better and it starts being part of an infinite loop. If you have a mixed fabric design, maybe you wove in some cotton stuff, then you've got to pull it out and separate it when you try and recycle, and that wasn't working too well. and so Their infographics showed how the circular economy gets stalled at that retreatment, reprocessing moment if you make certain design choices. That was my surprise. i I want to talk to you about it further on another time. But speaking to the broader community that we're always trying to say, well, did you know? What is the one thing like that that they should know? You know, what is their did you know that's going to make them start thinking differently? Because I tell you, I think about that fashion exhibit all the time.
00:15:44
Speaker
um Wow, the did you know. um for Are we talking about a did you know for for like any individual at home or at work? or we talking Yeah, that all that's good let's do one at home and one at work and we'll call it a show. um Well, I would say the did you know for an individual at home or at work, one important one is the rules might be different um for you at home or at work. um It's not fair, but um it's important to participate in your recycling program, even if you maybe are a little apathetic. um There's this, I participated in this, in this like wired ah YouTube video. If you Google ah waste expert on YouTube, you'll see my face pop up. And one of the questions was, does recycling matter? And my answer was yes, recycling matters. And I think the deeper question was like, is recycling even real? Because there's a lot of this misinformation, you know, only somewhere between six and 8%, six and 9% of plastic is actually recycled. um And part of the problem is a lack of participation in programs. A much bigger problem is this systemic issue of a lack of existing services, a lack of access to services, and then essentially an entire breakdown of um funding for recycling infrastructure. um But what I would say is that a lot of that is changing because of legislation. um And we need to know how to participate in order for those programs to work. um And so it's important for people to read their municipal web websites or read the sign, at least read the sign and do what the sign says and recognize that the sign might be different from one town to the next. And that's not because the town is wrong. It's because the infrastructure is different from one town to the next. um And it's confusing and it's not your fault. And things are changing and it might be different from one year to the next year. And that's because things are constantly evolving.
Conclusion and Invitation to Engage
00:18:05
Speaker
um and And just thank you for participating. ah feedi Thank you for participating. So to those that are listening, you heard it here first, read the website. That does seem like 101, but yet um really important. So thanks, Meredith. It's been great to speak with you today. I appreciate it. Hey, thanks for tuning in to Sustainability Square One.
00:18:29
Speaker
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