Swedish Sortrace secures funding to help municipalities improve household waste sorting

Stockholm-based waste technology startup Sortrace has raised about $800,000 in a funding round led by Almi Invest. Antler, Gorilla Capital and several business angels also took part. The money is meant to help the company meet growing demand from municipalities and to push its technology further along the waste chain.

Sortrace installs camera sensors on waste collection vehicles and uses AI-powered computer vision to analyse household waste as bins are emptied. The results are linked to bin and route data, so municipalities and waste operators can see where sorting errors recur and measure whether recycling initiatives are working. The company says its analysis is privacy-protected and that images are stored within the European Union.

The problem it targets is that Swedish municipalities carry increasing responsibility for making sure household waste is sorted correctly, yet operators often lack detailed information on where mistakes happen or whether public information campaigns have any effect. With location-specific data, municipalities can aim interventions at the areas where mis-sorting is most common instead of relying only on broad awareness campaigns. The stated goals are higher recycling rates and less material sent to incineration.

CEO and co-founder Rahel Surshi says municipalities are investing heavily in collection and household information but, without data, cannot know if those efforts pay off. Sortrace makes mis-sorting visible at every emptying. She adds that the next step is to take the technology beyond collection vehicles and further along the waste chain. Ali Altaie, Investment Manager at Almi Invest, says a more circular economy requires decisions based on data rather than assumptions.

Sortrace already works with several municipalities and companies in the recycling sector.