Miami-Dade Innovation Authority (MDIA) has launched its fifth Public Innovation Challenge, a pioneering initiative that is part of Miami-Dade County鈥檚 overall waste diversion efforts. In collaboration with the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM), this challenge invites local and global early-to-growth stage companies to submit innovative solutions that will enhance and strengthen strategies to divert and reduce waste, and educate and engage residents. Piloting the innovative technologies proposed in the Public Innovation Challenge will inform and complement the development of the County’s Zero Waste Master Plan, a comprehensive plan that will set a path forward to divert, reduce or reuse overall waste in our community.
The challenge will run until April 21, 2025. MDIA, in partnership with DSWM, will select at least three early-to-growth stage technology startups, providing each with $100,000 in funding to test and validate their solutions with DSWM. Interested companies are encouraged to submit their proposals through the official challenge website: .
The challenge seeks solutions that harness the power of technology to improve waste diversion efforts like recycling and organic waste reuse. These solutions should also educate and incentivize the public to participate in these efforts. They should be ready to be implemented in a pilot setting and should be scalable to ultimately meet the growing needs of DSWM.
“Reducing landfill waste and improving waste diversion is crucial in ensuring the continued health and wellbeing of Miami residents and fragile ecosystems鈥� especially as our population continues to grow,鈥� said Leigh-Ann Buchanan, President and CEO of MDIA. 鈥淭his challenge not only provides an opportunity for startups with cutting edge solutions to make a real impact on waste diversion in Miami-Dade County, but also demonstrates our region鈥檚 leadership within the global resilience community as we invest in technologies that help improve environmental outcomes and make recycling and reuse more accessible for residents.鈥�
Miami-Dade currently produces more than five million tons of waste annually, and, according to Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), only 37 percent of the County鈥檚 waste is actually recycled with a nearly 40 percent contamination rate. As the County鈥檚 population continues to grow, waste diversion remains a critical strategy in mitigating environmental impact. By reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, communities can conserve natural resources, decrease greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing matter, prevent soil and water contamination, and lessen the need for new resource extraction to produce new products or create new landfills. Waste diversion also provides financial benefits by extending the life of County landfills, helping delay the need for costly new landfills and ensuring the County has the capacity to manage waste generated by new development without exceeding local regulations.聽 Waste diversion also helps reduce the environmental impact of landfill expansion by conserving land, minimizing pollution, and ensuring that resources are used more sustainably, allowing the County to better manage waste as it grows.
The challenge seeks solutions focused on several key areas of waste diversion:
- Platforms that connect residents to recycling resources such as solutions that offer educational 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 recyclable materials and/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 from County landfills.
“This is a game-changing moment for Miami-Dade. As our community continues to grow, we must use all the tools in our box to reimagine how we manage our waste now and in the future,鈥� said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. 鈥淭his challenge presents a unique opportunity to leverage the know-how of the private sector to engage our residents and use innovative, cutting-edge solutions to build a smarter, more resilient waste management system that will serve our community for generations to come.”
DSWM, collaborating with MDIA on this initiative, is committed to providing residents with exceptional waste collection, recycling and disposal services that protect and improve quality of life. The department鈥檚 new recycling contracts, which take effect April 1, 2025, will include trucks with new technology such as GPS systems and cameras that will enable DSWM to better identify contamination and provide opportunities for further resident engagement and education.
“As Miami-Dade continues to grow, effective waste diversion is essential to building a more sustainable community. Through this challenge, we aim to discover innovative solutions that will transform waste into opportunities for a greener future,” said Miami-Dade County DSWM Director Aneisha Daniel, PhD. “This collaboration with the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority on the Public Innovation Challenge allows us to leverage cutting-edge technology to reduce waste going to landfills while also engaging and educating residents on recycling and organic waste reuse. We look forward to working with innovative startups to create impactful solutions for a more sustainable future.”
To ensure the challenge benefits from diverse expertise, MDIA has enlisted subject matter experts from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), an organization of more than 10,000 public and private sector professionals committed to advancing from solid waste management to resource management through education, advocacy and research. SWANA brings valuable insights and experience to the initiative, further enhancing its potential impact on Miami-Dade’s waste diversion strategies.
鈥淓ntrepreneurship, innovation, and technology are essential for facing current and emerging issues,鈥� said SWANA CEO Amy Lestition Burke. 鈥淭his Public Innovation Challenge will enable startup companies to share their innovative solutions for the benefit of Miami-Dade County. The solutions that come out of this project will support local goals and may also be scalable for national waste and resource management. We look forward to seeing the creative approaches that will come from this work.鈥�
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