RoadRunner Recycling partners with Avery Dennison, Valo Ventures

RoadRunner Recycling, based in Pittsburgh, has closed its funding round with nearly $40 million in investments. The $10 million from Avery Dennison and Valo Ventures comes after the initial round of $28.6 million led by e.ventures and Greycroft in March 2020.

The funds from both investments will be used to support the continued expansion of RoadRunner, and its end-to-end waste and recycling management services, to at least 10 new markets across the United States. It will also be applied to further the development of its AI/machine-learning technology and grow internally to expand further.

In addition to Avery Dennison’s $5 million investment, RoadRunner has partnered with the company to develop a customized pilot program, leveraging its technological capabilities and operational capacity, to support Avery Dennison’s aggressive zero-waste goals.

"This investment represents Avery Dennison's ongoing commitment to sustainability and helping solve the matrix byproduct recycling challenge," says Jeroen Diderich, vice president and general manager of Label and Graphic Materials North America. "With RoadRunner Recycling's technological capabilities and their unique approach to smarter recycling, we are confident we will find new opportunities to help our customers meet their zero waste-to-landfill goals."

Diderich will also join RoadRunner’s board as an observer.

“We see these investments as an endorsement of our vision, from two world-class organizations, to upend the outdated and inefficient recycling sector through our unparalleled technology, services, and industry expertise,” RoadRunner Founder Graham Rihn says.

To date, RoadRunner has:

· raised $59.1 million;

· served more than 6,000 customers;

· helped businesses divert 130,000 tons of waste;

· increased recycling rates by 10 times their average; and

· saved businesses more than $20 million on waste and recycling costs.