Elytus is harnessing the power of technology to help businesses waste nothing. The software company has developed a platform that handles businesses’ waste management needs from procurement to payment.
Large chains from retail to restaurants generally have two options for their trash – recycle it or send it to the landfill.
“What our software does is it allows the chain to make the decision on what they want to do,” says Elytus Founder Matthew Hollis.Â
The software amasses local vendors that handle different niche aspects of waste management and puts contacts in place between these smaller vendors and large chains. The goal is to create competition and business for local providers versus a chain just going with the big-name waste management provider in the area.
“Out of the 50 states we have 5,000 service vendors for just waste and recycling,” Hollis says
In addition to waste and recycling, Elytus’ software is designed to handle the full lifecycle for grease trap cleaning, fry oil recovery, exhaust hood cleaning and pest control. Hollis says they added hood cleaning and pest control because they were both decentralized services that fit the model.
“We have an a la carte menu,” Hollis adds.
Customers purchase the software then pick and choose which services to implement.
The process begins by performing an equipment audit on the facility – gaining information on all dumpsters, how often they are picked up, what materials a business is throwing away, how much they are paying, etc. The information is then loaded into the software which sends out RFPs to match a business with a provider.
Elytus’ software helps chains develop a plan for their waste. Some businesses are more concerned about getting rid of their waste at the lowest cost, while others are more concerned about sustainability and cost is no object.
“Every single customer is different,” Hollis says.Â
Elytus has been in its current configuration since 2010/2011 and handles just under 10,000 facilities with a team of 25 people, managing clients like Red Robin, Ted’s Montana Grill and Burlington Coat Factory. Hollis says that because the software automates so much of the process, that’s why they can have such a small team.
“That’s why we are able to do everything that we do,” Hollis says.Â
He’s seen the market change over the course of five years. When Elytus first started, most businesses were concerned with cost. Then customers started becoming interested in a business’ recycling practices.
“What really started to push the movement was society as a whole,” Hollis says. “Customers started asking.”Â
As customers became more educated, businesses had to respond.
“We’ve had a number of our customers ask us to implement the recycling program for them all around the country,” Hollis says.
And it’s Elytus’ ability to not only implement but track recycling programs that’s making it attractive to businesses. The all-inclusive software houses everything from contracts to invoices, which when put together can verify all services performed.
“Based on your waste portfolio here’s how much and which materials you’ve generated this past year,” Hollis says.Â
One of clients’ favorite metrics tends to be diversion – how much waste did they keep from the landfill in a given year.
For a software that helps businesses waste nothing, Elytus started out as a rehab project itself. Hollis was a sophomore at Cedarville University in a business incubator program that was gifted the code for a software platform. The group redesigned and redeveloped the code into version one of Elytus. The software helped large waste management companies manage subcontractors. However, they realized there was a very limited market for the software’s narrow niche. The team got out of the market, going down to zero customers and zero revenue to retool its program as a way for large chains to manage all of their waste-management needs in-house.
“We got some pretty quick adoption because people wanted the reporting, the transparency, the visibility,” Hollis says.Â
For more information, visit elytus.com.
