Glacier, a six-year-old company focused on robotic waste sorting, is coming off a recent raise of $16 million in Series A funding. This financial windfall will enable the company to increase production of its fleet of elusive mini robotic arms. These sophisticated, state-of-the-art devices employ computer vision to recognize more than 30 types of materials. The $40 million round of funding, led by Amazon, speaks to the increasing appetite for automated solutions that address waste management inefficiencies.
Rebecca Hu-Thrams started Glacier to transform the recycling world. The company helps deploy its robots to materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in major cities. Today, Glacier’s robotic systems are deployed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix and Seattle. In addition to improving sorting efficiency, the robots lessen the physical impact of the work on employees.
Glacier offers its robots to customers through two models: outright purchases or a lease-to-own option. This flexibility gives municipalities and waste management companies the ability to take on the technology in different levels of financial commitment. Glacier’s advanced robotic waste sorting arms make recycling and composting more efficient. Plus, their data product provides cities with unique insights into their waste streams, helping them make more informed recycling decisions.
Rebecca Hu-Thrams, robotic sort supplier Machinex’s governmental affairs expert noted the efficiency of robotic sorting to the Society of American Foresters recently.
“Would you rather stand at a conveyor belt and sort through people’s trash, or would you rather be lifting boxes in an air-conditioned warehouse?” – Rebecca Hu-Thrams
This view reflects Glacier’s broader mission to raise the bar for worker safety and make recycling easier and better. Cutting-edge technology combined with seamless convenience has drawn regional heavy-hitters and small towns to this flourishing operation. It’s this unique combination that allows them to realistically pursue transitioning their waste management practices.
Glacier’s co-founder Julie Hill pointed out the huge benefits of using AI-driven systems compared to humans’ old way of sorting.
“Every time we send people to audit our AI systems, the people just do so much worse,” – Areeb Malik
This caveat is an important one, as it demonstrates the strength of the company’s belief in the efficiency and precision of their robotic technology. Glacier is quickly growing its footprint in the recycling world. The company intends to expand the rollout of its innovative solutions to municipalities nationwide.