Who They Are
One of the many aspects of sustainability is waste reduction, a unifying concern that touches every organization in the acceleration economy, regardless of sector or industry. Rubicon develops software that enables companies to understand their waste output and reduce it.
Entrepreneur Nate Morris and Marc Spiegel, a seasoned waste and recycling specialist, founded the company in 2008. Spiegel’s family has been involved in the waste and recycling industry for over a century. Rubicon’s overall aim is to use data-driven insights to make waste and recycling decisions more sustainable.
While Morris still retains the role of board chairman at Rubicon, the leadership team has diversified. Former Rubicon CTO Phil Rodoni holds the CEO position, while experienced advisor Kevin Schubert is the company president.
What They Do
The Rubicon solution is extensive, incorporating specific processes for haulers, governmental contracts, and global partnership schemes. However, this analysis will focus on the company’s business offerings.
The company’s business solutions can be split into five parts: RUBICONConnect Portal, RUBICONMarketplace, RUBICONMethod, RUBICONRegWatch, and Sustainability Reporting. Organizations can manage all the sustainability solutions supported by Rubicon through the RUBICONConnect Portal.
This all-in-one approach simplifies the management process and is available as a mobile application.
With RUBICONMarketplace, organizations can purchase containers collected by Rubicon for hard-to-recycle items, such as alkaline batteries and electronics.
RUBICONMethod is a six-step plan for creating and supporting a comprehensive recycling program. It starts with a guided audit and identification of pain points and goals before moving on to actionable steps that enable organizations to reduce landfill.
RUBICONRegWatch is a digital platform dedicated to regulatory compliance. Covering municipal, local, state, and federal regulations, the platform enables companies to monitor compliance, share updates continuously, and collaborate on priority actions.
Finally, Rubicon’s Sustainability Reporting features are most transformative for businesses regarding sustainability and cost efficiency. This comprehensive suite includes automated waste management data, performance statistics, access to the Rubicon vendor network, and automated carbon output reporting.
Who They’ve Impacted
Rubicon has more than eight million service locations and works with more than 7,000 customers. One such company that used Rubicon to streamline waste management was the healthcare technology company First Signal.
The company struggled to move away from a long-term waste contract that incurred increasingly higher costs. As well as connecting the company with a Rubicon hauling partner, Rubicon handled the process that enabled the company to move away from the existing contract they held. Today, First Signal only needs to pay for the services it uses.
On a larger scale, Rubicon partnered with the city of Atlanta, GA, to overhaul the city’s waste removal infrastructure. While Rubicon identified annual savings of $783,453, it also used Rubicon’s technology to divert 83% of recyclables that had previously ended up in a landfill.
The Future and Closing Thoughts
Rubicon excels in providing a sustainable waste management solution that dramatically reduces the amount of waste in an organization and equates to cost savings. While every company committed to sustainability will undoubtedly expect some associated costs, saving money while reducing carbon output is a win.
It’s easy to look at a solution like optimized waste management as an old-school approach to sustainability. Recycling has been around for decades, right? Yet, when you combine this tried and tested sustainability solution with advanced data analysis and a comprehensive partner network, you get something special.
