The 2022 Competition is underway!
Contestants are hard at work refining their idea.
Stay tuned for more info.
We’ll announce the Innovation Fellows in May!
Virtual Opening Pitch
The 7th Annual [RE]verse Pitch Competition kicked off with a virtual event on Monday, February 28th.
During the opening pitch event, we heard from businesses and institutions consistently generating or collecting by-product, surplus or otherwise underutilized materials streams in Austin, Texas that could be put to higher and better use in new social enterprises.
A note of clarification: Please note that burning materials will not be considered as an eligible submission in this competition. Per Austin's Zero Waste goal, incineration, which includes any burning for energy, is considered a form of disposal and therefore not an eligible reuse/recycling method.
Meet the 2022 Material Suppliers
ACC Bioscience Incubator / EQO: Rectangular plastic boxes with a plastic insert containing holes
Austin Creative Reuse: Decorator fabric samples
Austin Creative Reuse: Cuts of high-quality fleece
KIPP Texas Public Schools: School lunch 1/2 pint milk cartons
Travis County: Bulletproof vests
GET INVOLVED
Are you…
An Austin business with a local waste product?
An entrepreneur interested in starting a business that has a positive social impact? Or an established business professional interested in a creative way to diversify your revenue?
A service provider that works with start-ups or small businesses?
An experienced creative, technical or business professional interested in mentoring others?
INSPIRATION
For-profit and non-profit enterprises across the country are demonstrating the value can be created from waste. Get inspired by these local, national, and global reuse and remanufacturing enterprises:
Classic Childhood creates a line of children’s rompers from men’s dress shirts.
Pentatonic turns items like smartphone glass, plastic bottles, and more into furniture.
Made of Air takes used wood waste and creates a thermoplastic that locks in embodied carbon.
Rhizoform creates insulated packaging using mycelium-based alternatives to replace plastic foam.
Matriark Foods upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, delicious, products for food service: schools, hospitals, and food banks.
Patagonia uses discarded cotton scraps to create Responsibili-Tee® T-shirts.
Rubies in the Rubble creates relishes, ketchups & mayos from fresh ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.
Outlander Materials is creating a non-plastic foil from wastewater generated from beer brewing processes.
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, Oregon: Candles into skateboard wax, window glass into gifts, dog beds from industrial scrap, and more.
![[Re]Verse Pitch Competition](http://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55b690b5e4b0491deed57b65/1441323468581-HNJ986C17Q91AC4QDHSI/REverse_logos_white_web.png?format=1500w)