Bower to expand operations in US

Bower, a technology company based in Stockholm, Sweden, recently finished a pilot program in Los Angeles that could improve collection rates for the waste and recycling industry nationwide. For the program, the company launched the Bower App in Los Angeles in July with the participation of local grocery stores. 

“We chose Los Angeles because of how far they have gone regarding recycling and sustainability consciousness,” says Suwar Mert, co-founder of Bower. “While we are still processing the data we collected through the program, our goal is to take all the knowledge that we get from this pilot and launch it across the United States.” 

According to the company, users register by taking a photo of their method of recycling collection. The app then verifies where the user is and if it is an accepted method of recycling, like blue bins provided by a curbside recycling program. Once registered, users can scan the barcode on a package, deposit it in a designated recycling point like a bin or a material recovery facility and then be rewarded directly through the app.  Accepted drop-off spots will be geographically pinpointed so that users can locate convenient spots to drop off their items.

Mert says that Bower has partnered with more than 100 companies for this app, including Nestle, Dove and Purina. Once a product is recycled, the user gets rewarded in Bower points which can be redeemed at one of the brands for discounts, coupons or other rewards. It can also be redeemed for money once a user hits 100 Bower points that can either be donated to various types of charities or deposited as money. How many points an item is depends on the material and type of container. If a container is nonrecyclable, Mert says the app will tell the user and explain why it can’t be recycled.

“What we want to do is make sure that there isn't anything called trash anymore,” Mert says. “We know that giving recycled items value actually increases the collection rates and when you increase the collection rates, then it becomes also interesting for factories and recyclers to start recycling that product because enough of it is collected.”

He adds that if small pockets of people can learn exactly what can and can’t be recycled, it will empower communities to make changes to how they go about recycling. The app can improve collection rates through recycling education and incentives to encourage positive recycling behavior.

However, while the immediate benefits help the users, Mert says the app also can inform waste and recycling operations. Through a user agreement, Bower would provide the information collected through the Bower app to hauling companies that could improve how waste and recycling are collected.

The data can show what routes get the most recycling and what ones don't. This helps companies improve how they collect recycling, while also cutting down on expenses like gas. Since data can assist companies with route maintenance, it also helps improve maintenance of vehicles and reduce carbon emissions. Bower recently signed a contract with FTI, a package and paper collection association in Sweden to use the app to improve logistics.

The idea for the app was created in 2015. Mert developed the idea originally to increase the recycling of cotton bags in Sweden. After pivoting a few times, the company launched the current version of the app, which primarily focuses on polyethylene terephthalate-based products, in 2019. Since then, it has become one of the most popular apps. The app has 320,000 international users helping to save more than 1,000 metric tons of CO2 to date. In July, 1.9 million plastic packages were scanned and recycled via Bower. 

Now that the pilot has ended, Mert says the company plans to scale it to the entire state of California. While it’s unclear how quickly the app will be scaled, Mert has plans to expand it nationally after completing its scale in California.

Mert says the app was patented in Sweden and it has patents pending in Europe and the United States. In March this year, Bower raised $4.7 million to expand globally.