O ne Richmond-based data company is taking the wheel, steering the River City and points beyond toward a greener future, and all you need to participate is your cellphone.

“We think some of the big problems around recycling and sustainability are solved with data. The company was founded to fulfill that need,” said Simon Glossop, CEO of Data Company One .

DC1 is in the process of broadening the reach of its 1-year-old smartphone app, GreenScanr . The app is used to track recyclable materials and guide users not only to recycle properly but also allow them to learn the environmental impact by using statistics on the recycled material in hand.

“I think only with the data can we actually change perceptions and actually change behavior, and that also means that we can share what’s really happening,” Glossop said.

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Justin Showalter, a business development associate for Data Company One, or DC1, demonstrates how to use the GreenScanr app.

Changing the planet bit by byte

GreenScanr is a three-faceted system , including the mobile app, a dashboard and a physical recycling station. The station is set up using a television screen with a camera on top that uses artificial intelligence to identify the item, and there is also a barcode scanner at the base of the screen. Beneath the screen, there are assorted bins varying in color and category, where recyclable items are placed based on where the system says it should go. The system’s technology runs on an AI-powered database known as WasteX . With just one scan, the system collects 24 points of data.

For example, if a user scanned a soda can, the screen would pull up a picture of the bin labeled “aluminum.” At the bottom of the screen, a banner would show different statistics on the environmental footprint of the soda can.

DC1 says it is in the process of collaborating with local businesses and universities in order to spread the app’s impact. Glossop says some of the company’s targets include festivals, amusement parks, campuses and sporting events. Justin Showalter, a business development associate for DC1, says these high-traffic entities result in high waste.

Richmond Kickers use tech

In October, DC1 partnered with the Richmond Kickers, setting up a GreenScanr station at City Stadium for a game.

Justin Showalter demonstrates how the GreenScanr’s AI technology can recognize a plastic bottle.

“I think (the kids) spent more time recycling, collecting waste and coming back to the station to use it than they did watching the actual football game,” Showalter said. “It was really cool, because you see that this younger generation really supports organizations like the Kickers, who are making investments into their fans’ futures with sustainable technology and initiatives that are working to make the planet a better place for them to grow up in.”

Drew Norris is the vice president for corporate partnerships and the head groundskeeper for the Richmond Kickers . He says the team has been in conversations with DC1 for over a year, finding the best way to showcase the GreenScanr to fans. Norris also says sports venues are constantly looking for more ways to be “green” and that this event was a step in the right direction for the Kickers.

“We’ve had a ton of conversations with current and potential corporate partners on what matters to organizations, and it’s fairly clear that it’s finding ways to take care of our planet,” Norris said.

Showalter says that throughout the stadium, there were 86.4 pounds of total carbon avoidance within just a two-hour time frame. That included nearly 200 aluminum cans with a carbon footprint of 45.66 pounds, all collected at just two GreenScanr stations. The company also collected 26.21 pounds of recycled plastic, resulting in 42.04 pounds of carbon avoidance.

Simon Glossop, the CEO of DC1, says currently only 45% to 50% of aluminum is being recycled and that by increasing that number to 70%, the world can save 6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Carbon avoidance projects help prevent greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the sources of those emissions and stopping them from happening in the first place. GreenScanr does this by preventing certain items from ever seeing a landfill.

DC1 believes in the power of its younger audience , even working with a group of students at UCLA to come up with the name for the GreenScanr app. Showalter says there’s been a shift in trends when it comes to the priorities of college students when selecting a campus, and that more students are considering a school’s sustainability initiative over its social life.

“The students are looking for ways to get involved, and that’s why this technology is so great, because we’re giving them an app in their hands and the station right there on campus with them,” Showalter said. “(It’ll) show them how they can help and give them a super easy and direct medium for actually assisting the school in reaching these goals.”

Creating a humanitarian effort does not come without financial needs, especially when technology is a primary aspect. Glossop says the only way to create a long-term sustainable business is for it to also be commercially successful.

Thomas Grinnan shows how the DC1 dashboard tracks the amount of carbon diverted from landfills and the total carbon dioxide avoidance.

In its two years as a company, DC1 has been working closely with other sustainability-centered groups. Showalter says DC1 sells all of the aluminum it collects to recycling plants, then sends those funds to a local litter cleanup group in Richmond, Keep Virginia Cozy .

Glossop says currently only 45% to 50% of aluminum is being recycled and that by increasing that number to 70%, the world can save 6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. All of those savings come from reducing the amount of energy needed to produce new aluminum. Glossop says this is an easy way to reduce a significant amount of pollution and that it’s already happening, it just needs to happen more.

Showalter says locals can expect to see more GreenScanr stations popping up at sporting events and on Richmond campuses. Glossop says DC1 has also been extending its influence into Georgia and North Carolina and is working toward the West Coast.

“I think Richmond has a good opportunity to become even more of a green city,” Glossop said. “In the middle of the East Coast, it could be a beacon of sustainability.”

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