Member Spotlight: Rubbish

I sat down with Lakshmi Reddy and Emin Israfil, the COO and CEO of Rubbish, a company building AI-powered waste characterization and management tools to create cleaner and healthier communities. We explored their paths into climate tech, how trash can be fun, and the company’s surprising origin story.

Will Hespe: How does the Rubbish app work, and how it can help make a difference?

Emin Israfil: Rubbish is an AI-powered waste management and resource recovery platform. The ecosystem of tools allow users to scan an item and receive guidance on how to properly dispose of it. The AI will be able to detect what that is, and if you need any special instructions, like to rinse out the container or take something apart. People also use the app to clean up their communities by tracking litter.

Lakshmi Reddy: We just started working with a company called Replate, which takes excess food and redistributes it to people in need. When the delivery drivers are picking up, they have to track how much they're picking up and what they're picking up, so they can account for impact. At the moment, they're doing everything manually, and that's where we come in, to automate everything, saving many manual hours and making the estimation of impact very easy.

Will Hespe: What makes Rubbish unlike other companies?

Emin Israfil: I think we try to be a very fun trash brand. We have pink colors, bright iconography, characters—we have a whole series of cartoons. Friendly iconography is important to us. Having a friendly approach to trash and waste management makes it more accessible to people.

Lakshmi Reddy: The way I look at it is, nobody at the moment is using AI for waste management or waste recovery in the same comprehensive, ecosystemic approach that we are. Most companies specialize in just one aspect, like AI for sorting at the waste facility, but by then it’s too late and your recycling is already contaminated.

Will Hespe: The tech recognizes what you scan and how you can properly dispose of it. How does it know the difference between an apple core and a cigarette butt?

Emin Israfil: So when we first started, we really concentrated on environmental data, and we would do surveys, like the first one here in Soma West, where we'd walk 100 blocks and categorize 17,000 neighborhood concerns, like litter, graffiti, and trash can placement. This data served as a benchmark to target resources, track improvements, and acquire additional funding from local government. That involved taking a photo and labeling it many times over. A couple years ago, we used this data for machine learning, but what's really changed in the last two years is the advent of multimodal LLMs and AI capabilities. They get results that are way better than anything we've had in the past.

Will Hespe: Do you have any advice for people going into climate tech? How do you stay motivated?

Lakshmi Reddy: We are both very passionate about clean environments. I have loved nature ever since I was a kid, and have wanted to work in this sector since I was ten years old and first came across an article about the Kyoto Protocol—I turned that into a career. One piece of advice I would give is to come into the sector only if you're passionate about it. This sector is currently drawing significant attention from policy makers and environmentally conscious corporations, leading to a surge in interest. However, unlike the tech industry, the results are not immediate, and that can be disappointing. You have to have patience, and grit.

Emin Israfil: My number one piece of advice is go to 9Zero and hang out with people who want to contribute to this sector. Nothing beats being part of a community. I had a very nonlinear path. I was also passionate about nature for many years, but studied molecular biology and genetics. I worked in the Amazon, at a wildlife NGO Jane Goodall personally supported. I ended up becoming a programmer at a consulting company for pharma and traveled for seven years, before one day, my dog ate a chicken bone on the street in the neighborhood where I grew up in Brooklyn. I got fed up and said, “what can I do about this? What can I do to improve my community and my neighborhood?” That turned into a seven year long litter and garbage rabbit hole that we find ourselves in now. 

Will Hespe: Oh no! Is your dog alright?

Emin Israfil: The dog's okay. He was like, “where can I find more chicken?”