Deadline: October 25, 2023

Dart Container is launching a circularity initiative to enhance sustainability by reusing or recycling used food and beverage containers. They are offering a variety of potential partnership and engagement opportunities for companies with technology for collecting waste from multiple sources and locations.

background:

Dart Container, the global leader in containers for food and beverages, is committed to improving their sustainability profile. From the recyclability & compostability of their products to their consumer-led Take-Back program, Dart is working to enhance the environmental footprint of their products and processes. Now Dart Container wants to expand their sustainability efforts by implementing a circularity program to collect, aggregate and distribute used containers back into the manufacturing process or the foodservice supply chain. Collected materials may be cleaned and reused or may be destined for recycling and remanufacturing. Regardless of the endpoint for the reclaimed containers, Dart hopes to prevent a portion of the millions of pounds of single use containers from ending up in landfills or incinerators.

Dart produces containers in various shapes and sizes. Additionally, the containers are made of a variety of materials including molded fiber, foam, paper, and other plastics. Approaches that specialize in the collection of a single material or container type as well as broad-spectrum approaches that collect multiple materials or containers are equally of interest.

Through this program, Dart Container wants to engage with companies making circularity a reality, especially those focused on the packaging industry. Organizations with technology and expertise in accumulating waste from distributed locations are strongly encouraged to participate including, but not limited to experts in:

• Reverse logistics
• After-market supply chain management
• Third party logistics
• Lifecycle management

Dart is interested in hearing from all appropriate companies regardless of their location, size, or specialty.

The Dart team will evaluate all eligible submissions and invite select respondents to a virtual pitch event in November 2023. Following the pitch event, Dart Container will then begin direct engagement with high scoring presenters. Possible engagements includes funding for pilot programs, direct investing, joint development, and technology licensing or acquisition. The presenter and Dart Container will determine the exact nature of the engagement jointly.

Timeline:

• Informational webinar: October 18, 2023 at 1pm Eastern
• Submission deadline: October 25, 2023
• Virtual Pitch Event: November 2023
• Pilot programs: 2024

The goal of this sprint is to facilitate contact and interactions between the Sprint sponsor and commercial entities (including Start-ups), technology developers or research organization/university in this space.

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requirements:

Solvers submitting an Entry are encouraged to highlight capabilities in their Submission that meet criteria including:

• Technology Overview
• Material(s) collected:
  • Fiber
  • Foam
  • Paper
  • Plastic
• Possible collection point(s) of materials such as:
  • Residential locations:
    • Single family homes
    • Apartment complexes
  • Restaurants
  • Other institutions (hospitals, museums, etc.)
  • Municipal Recovery Facilities
• Geographic area of operations (current or anticipated): city/state/region/country
• Experience handling post-consumer products
• Desired engagement with Dart Container such as:
  • Pilot program
  • Direct investment
  • Joint development
  • Technology licensing
  • Technology acquisition
• Commercialization timeline
• Technical maturity