Propelling Waste Diversion Across Miami-Dade County
Public Innovation Challenge No. 5
Miami-Dade Innovation Authority (“MDIA”) seeks early-to-growth stage startup companies with innovative solutions that will enhance Waste Diversion efforts in Miami-Dade County. Collaborators for this challenge include Miami-Dade County’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development (OIED), Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM), and the Solid Waste Association-North America.
Why is Waste Diversion Important?
Waste diversion significantly reduces environmental damage by minimizing the amount of waste going to landfills. This helps to conserve natural resources, decrease greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing organic matter, prevent soil and water contamination, and lessen the need for new resource extraction to produce new products or create new landfills. This also provides financial benefits by extending the life of County landfills, and helping the County meet concurrency requirements.
Miami-Dade County produces over five million tons of waste annually. Moreover, according to Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) only 37 percent of the County’s waste is actually recycled with an approximately 39.9 percent contamination rate. Reducing waste in landfills will remain especially important as the County continues to grow.
This is not just a Miami-Dade County issue, but a national and global one. Miami-Dade County has an opportunity to act as a national leader in waste diversion strategies, while simultaneously creating a cleaner and more environmentally responsible community for its residents.
Which Solutions Are We Seeking?
MDIA seeks innovators with creative solutions to divert waste from landfills, educate and engage residents on recycling and reuse efforts, and increase participation in waste diversion efforts and reduce recycling contamination. These solutions should be ready to be implemented in a pilot setting and also should be scalable to ultimately meet the growing needs of DSWM.
Examples of solutions will include:
Platforms that connect residents to recycling resources such as solutions that offer education tools about what materials are recyclable, how residents can reduce waste stream contamination, and how residents might effectively reuse certain materials.
Technologies that inform residents how to sort their waste such as applications that help residents identify what recyclable materials or incentivize residents to effectively manage their household waste streams.
Analytics platforms that help DSWM and residents better understand where waste is going, and help the Department optimize on-site waste diversion operations.
Waste diversion management solutions such as solutions that divert organic waste types from County landfills. Please review this FAQ page for additional details and requirements for waste diversion technologies.
How Does The Public Innovation Challenge Work?
Apply to submit your solution for an opportunity to receive a $100,000 equity investment and to test and validate your solution at the Department of Solid Waste Management.
Your company should have an existing product or MVP (minimum viable product) that is ready to be tested and validated in a commercial market setting.
Your company should be legally registered and compliant with all relevant regulations and laws in your respective jurisdictions.
We evaluate each application thoroughly through a multi-stage process involving subject matter experts and an investor-led selection committee. While there are no inflexible rules and guidelines, we generally consider factors such as the level of innovation, feasibility of the proposed solution, potential for sustainable impact, financial stability as well as diversity, equity and inclusion with regard to the executive or management team.
Check out our FAQs to learn more about eligibility criteria, key deadlines, requirements, and other important information.
Key Dates
Final Application Deadline: Monday, April 21, 2025 at 11:59pm EST
Application Review (6-8 weeks)
Top 10 Finalist Interviews: Mid May- June 2025
About MDIA
MDIA bridges the gap between private innovators and the public sector to fast track innovation that improves quality of life for residents. Through our signature Public Innovation Challenge, we identify, invest in and support early-to-growth stage companies from across the globe to pilot, test and validate their technology and solutions to pressing public challenges in collaboration with the economic engines within municipalities.
For more information, go to: https://www.mdia.miami/about