Miami-Dade to provide select tech startups with funding to test and validate waste diversion solutions

Miami-Dade Innovation Authority (MDIA) has launched its fifth Public Innovation Challenge, an initiative that is part of Miami-Dade County's overall waste diversion efforts. In collaboration with the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM), this challenge invites local and global early-to-growth stage companies to submit solutions that will enhance and strengthen strategies to divert and reduce waste, and educate residents.

The challenge will run until April 21, 2025. MDIA, in partnership with DSWM, will select at least three technology startups, providing each with $100,000 in funding to test and validate their solutions with DSWM. Interested companies are encouraged to submit their proposals here.

The challenge seeks solutions that use technology to improve waste diversion efforts like recycling and organic waste reuse. These solutions should educate and incentivize the public to participate in these efforts, and should also be ready to be implemented in a pilot setting.

"Reducing landfill waste and improving waste diversion is crucial in ensuring the continued health and wellbeing of Miami residents and fragile ecosystems - especially as our population continues to grow," said Leigh-Ann Buchanan, president and CEO of MDIA. "This challenge not only provides an opportunity for startups with cutting edge solutions to make a real impact on waste diversion in Miami-Dade County, but also demonstrates our region's leadership within the global resilience community as we invest in technologies that help improve environmental outcomes and make recycling and reuse more accessible for residents."

Miami-Dade currently produces more than five million tons of waste annually, and, according to Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), only 37 percent of the county's waste is actually recycled with a nearly 40 percent contamination rate.

As the county's population continues to grow, waste diversion remains a critical strategy in mitigating environmental impact. By reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, communities can conserve natural resources, decrease greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing matter, prevent soil and water contamination, and lessen the need for new resource extraction to produce new products or create new landfills.

Waste diversion also provides financial benefits by extending the life of county landfills, helping delay the need for costly new ones and ensuring the county can manage waste generated by new development without exceeding local regulations. Waste diversion also helps reduce the environmental impact of landfill expansion by conserving land, minimizing pollution, and ensuring that resources are used more sustainably, allowing the county to better manage waste as it grows.

The challenge seeks solutions focused on several key areas of waste diversion:

• Platforms that connect residents to recycling resources, such as solutions that offer educational tools about what materials are recyclable, how residents can reduce waste stream contamination, and how residents might effectively reuse certain materials.
• Technologies that inform residents how to sort their waste such as applications that help residents identify recyclable materials and/or incentivize residents to effectively manage their household waste streams.
• Analytics platforms that help DSWM and residents better understand where waste is going and help the Department optimize on-site waste diversion operations.
• Waste diversion management solutions, such as solutions that divert organic waste from county landfills.