The waste and recycling industry has not seen innovation in thousands of years. In ancient times, societies the world over used landfills to dispose of waste, burying it in the ground and forgetting about it even as it broke down and released chemicals into their land, water systems and, ultimately, their food.

Fast-forward to today and things are much the same. The massive environmental impact of the accumulation of waste is now undeniable, but there have been no major scientific or technical advances to help us fight back. It was solving this growing, global problem – and finding market-based solutions to do so – that planted the seed in Nate Morris’ mind for a new kind of waste management company. Nate, a Kentuckian, connected with an old high school friend, Marc Spiegel, whose family had been in the waste and recycling business for more than a century, and asked if there was a better, more sustainable way to deal with the global waste problem.

Together they went to work. Morris maxed out his personal credit cards and even sold items on eBay to fund initial expenses. They came up with the name Rubicon, a reference to the idiom “crossing the Rubicon,” which means to pass a point of no return and refers to Julius Caesar’s army crossing the Rubicon River in 49 BC. With this humble start, but grand ambition, Rubicon was born.

Today, Rubicon is the worldwide leader in providing cloud-based waste and recycling solutions for customers in business, government, and the non-profit sectors.

With more than 4.9 million service locations worldwide, the company focuses on developing cutting-edge software that brings transparency to the waste and recycling industry, encouraging customers to make data-driven decisions that lead to more efficient and effective operations that drive more sustainable outcomes.

Rubicon manages all waste and recycling services through its extensive network of more than 7,000 vendor and hauler partners. Programs include cardboard (OCC), plastic, paper, metal, glass, electronics recycling, construction and demolition (C&D), organics recycling (including food waste and composting services), and single-stream recycling solutions (SSR). In addition, our subject matter experts manage commodity markets, zero-waste programs, and other sustainability offerings across our portfolio. Rubicon also offers a cutting-edge smart city solution, RUBICONSmartCity™, that helps city governments run more efficient, effective, and sustainable waste and recycling operations.