Every day, thousands of waste collection vehicles empty household bins, but much of the material being collected remains difficult to measure. Municipalities may invest in public awareness campaigns and better recycling infrastructure, yet without reliable information about what residents actually discard, assessing the impact of these initiatives can be challenging. Swedish startup Sortrace wants to change this by bringing artificial intelligence directly into waste collection. The Stockholm based company has raised approximately $800,000 to expand its technology and help cities improve recycling through data driven waste monitoring.
Almi Invest Leads the Funding Round
Sortrace has secured approximately $800,000, equivalent to SEK 8 million, in a funding round led by Almi Invest. Existing investor Antler, Gorilla Capital and several angel investors also participated.
Founded by Rahel Surshi, CEO, and Tomas Kjellstrand, Sortrace develops an AI powered waste analysis platform that combines computer vision, camera sensors and data analytics. Its technology is designed for municipalities and waste management companies seeking better visibility into household waste composition and collection performance.
The fresh capital will help the company respond to growing demand from municipalities, accelerate commercial expansion and further develop its platform. Sortrace also plans to extend its technology beyond collection vehicles to other stages of the waste management process.
Making Waste Sorting Visible
Correct household waste sorting is essential for effective recycling. When recyclable materials are mixed with general waste or contaminated by incorrectly discarded items, their recovery becomes more difficult and valuable resources may be lost.
Municipalities often depend on inspections, manual reporting and general household information campaigns to improve sorting behaviour. However, these methods may not reveal precisely where mistakes happen or whether particular initiatives are producing measurable improvements.
Sortrace addresses this information gap by installing camera and sensor systems on waste collection vehicles. As household bins are emptied, the equipment captures visual information about the collected material. Its AI technology analyses the images, identifies incorrectly sorted waste and converts the findings into structured data.
AI Powered Monitoring and Actionable Insights
The platform connects waste analysis results with individual bins and collection routes, helping municipalities understand where sorting problems occur.
Through dashboards and reports, customers can identify recurring contamination patterns, compare collection areas and monitor changes over time. This makes it easier to direct educational campaigns and other corrective measures towards locations where they are most needed.
According to Sortrace, its system provides continuous monitoring rather than relying on occasional inspections. The company’s website also highlights automated detection, route level insights and reporting tools that can help waste management teams improve operational efficiency.
The technology is designed with privacy protection in mind. Sortrace states that collected data is encrypted and processed through its EU hosted cloud infrastructure.
Helping Municipalities Improve Recycling
CEO and co founder Rahel Surshi believes that municipalities need reliable data to understand whether their investments in waste collection and public awareness are delivering results.
She explained that Sortrace makes incorrect sorting visible at every collection, allowing municipalities to focus their efforts on areas where problems actually occur rather than relying on assumptions.
The technology could help reduce unnecessary waste processing costs, limit the amount of recyclable material sent for incineration and improve overall material recovery. However, these outcomes depend on how municipalities use the insights and implement improvements.
Expanding Beyond Waste Collection
Sortrace already works with municipalities and organisations in the recycling sector. Its official website highlights collaborations and references involving Swedish municipalities, including Örebro, Solna and Östersund.
With the new investment, the company aims to expand installations, serve more customers and develop applications across additional stages of the waste management chain.
By transforming everyday waste collection into measurable information, Sortrace is positioning AI powered monitoring as a tool for more efficient resource management and a more data driven circular economy.