While many people recycle bottles and cans at home, just try to find a place to toss that empty water bottle while shopping or at work. Those familiar blue plastic bins aren’t to be found. But a San Diego startup has come up with a solution that could increase the amount of recyclables collected while cutting the waste pouring into local landfills. EnviroBinz Inc. manufactures special containers that accept both trash and recycled materials. The bins can be seen on the streets of National City, and are coming to the city of San Diego next spring.
Prabakar Mahalingam, company co-founder, said his firm is in the final stages of negotiating a contract for 2,000 bins, which will go to San Diego’s business improvement districts, including the Gaslamp Quarter. He said the contract with the city of San Diego was worth about $900,000, but has not been signed yet. “Our goal is to replace every trash can downtown with our bins,” Mahalingam said. The bins are essentially dual receptacles, one for trash and one for recyclable material. Mahalingam said he got the idea while walking in the Gaslamp Quarter a few years ago with partner and friend Shahin Enayati. The two were looking for a place to dispose of an empty plastic bottle, but all they found were overflowing concrete trash containers.
The two decided to design a container to handle both trash and plastic, which could generate revenue by selling advertising on the sides. With advertising, the two said they could provide containers to cities at no cost. The cities agree to remove the trash and recycling materials but EnviroBinz cleans the receptacles. The two collect advertising revenue, selling space on a monthly basis. They promise to set aside a portion of what they collect for community-based projects, such as graffiti cleanup. “This is a business that has a social benefit to the community, and that’s part of our Bahai Faith. We believe in operating businesses that generate a positive impact to the communities they are in,” Mahalingam said.
The two, along with Enayati’s wife, Cari, started the business in 2003. It wasn’t until 2005 when they were able to arrange a pilot program with National City to prove the concept. “Within three months, the city went from zero diversion (of recycled materials) to 60 percent,” Mahalingam said. Although there was some mixing of refuse in the early stages of the program, a citywide campaign promoting recycling improved things, he said.
“Not only are these trash receptacles doing the job by collecting trash, they are also giving an identity to the neighborhoods by the community messages on the sides,” said National City Mayor Nick Inzunza. “We thought this was going to be a win-win for everyone, and the way it turned out has been pretty good.”
The partners raised $122,000 to launch the business, which has five employees. Mahalingam, a 34-year-old native of Sri Lanka, has lived in this country for 16 years. Enayati, 40, is a native of India. The two men also are partners in a property management business. As students in the M.B.A. program at San Diego State University, they also entered several business plan competitions with very positive results. EnviroBinz received high marks in the competitions, some of which represented the best graduate business programs in the nation. “We took first place in the San Diego Venture Challenge, and third place at the University of Oregon, and we were in the top 10 in every other contest,” said Mahalingam. The total prize money earned was $22,000.
Since the bins have made their presence in National City and in one San Diego neighborhood (a pilot program was established in North Park), EnviroBinz has had talks with a few other cities, including Oceanside and Vista. “They all seem receptive,” Mahalingam said. “It’s just a matter of our company being able to do it.” To help them fund the manufacturing of the bins, which can range from $800 to $1,000, they need some capital. The partners have been talking to several venture capital funds about investing, and by next year hope to attract about $1.6 million into the business, Mahalingam said.
Once they gain a foothold in San Diego, there are plenty of other cities that could use the dual action bins. “We’ve identified 51 cities in the country where we think the bins could go,” he said. A driving force in cities adopting the bins is mandates from both federal and state governments to reduce the waste stream going into public landfills, Mahalingam said.
By MIKE ALLEN
SOURCE: San Diego Business Journal
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