Austin startups to provide sustainable business ideas

Old bulletproof jackets could provide the next generation of water bottles.

driving news; As part of the city’s effort to keep waste out of landfills, eight Austin startups will present their “circular” businesses — those focused on recycling, zero waste or sustainability — to a panel of judges and investors for a chance to win $5,000.

Why is it important? According to the 2020 Austin Recycling and Reuse Economic Impact Report, circular businesses support more than $1 billion in local economic activity and more than 6,300 jobs.

Note: The city It is trying to reach a goal of zero waste by 2040, or reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills by 90 percent. In the year In 2021, the conversion rate was 42%.

Details: The winner of the competition will receive prize money and an opportunity to meet with investors. Here are the startups vying for the prize.

• Rebirth Creations creates water bottle holders lined with reusable fabric from Austin Creative and bulletproof vests from Travis County.
• Flower Sea is a conceptual fashion house and design studio focused on diversity and beauty, style and culture.
• GROARTS plans to use plastic boxes and plastic inserts from Austin Community College’s Bioscience Incubator and EQOO to create a microgreen indoor grow box.
• Heron also rents out items you don’t use enough to buy, including carpet cleaners and air mattresses.
• No Nice turns aluminum cans into jewelry.
• Reclaim.Repurpose.Reimagine creates packaging for luxury goods using fabric samples from Austin Creative Recycling and bulletproof vests from Travis County.
• Revival Furniture plans to create furniture from recycled fabric samples from Austin Creative.
• Use2 is an incubator to extend the life of materials and sell to entrepreneurs.

What they say: Jacqueline Heather and Declan O’Reilly of GROARTS say the event will give their microgreen startups a chance to get in front of investors.

• In 2021, GROARTS, or Grow Agriculture Research and Technologies, was founded and reused “pipe end boxes” from ACC. The boxes make up roughly 75% of lab-generated waste and are often sorted as medical waste and mistakenly put in landfills, Heiser says.
• “There are a lot of waste streams out there, and a lot of waste from different industries is very valuable material,” Heiser told Axios.

What’s next: The field event for the competition will take place tonight from 5.30-8pm at the Cathedral. The event is free and open to the public.