Bower receives Google.org fellowship, €1.75 million grant to build recycling mobile app

Bower has been selected for a Google.org fellowship, in addition to a €1.75M grant through the Google.org Impact Challenge – Tech for Social Good.

The fellowship, beginning in January 2024, will bring together a team of full-time Google employees, with skills ranging from software engineering to UX design, to support the Bower team. Working pro bono for six months, they will help Bower craft a machine learning-powered waste collection mobile app that rewards users for accurately sorting trash. 

The Bower app will leverage machine learning and computer vision to empower users to scan, identify, and better understand their trash – including the type of package, material composition, size, and carbon emissions – as well as get rewards for accurately sorting and depositing the waste. The computer vision model behind the app will be open-sourced, for the benefit of the wider recycling ecosystem.

Not only is the production of single-use packaging extremely resource-intensive, but merely 49 percent of municipal waste in the EU is properly recycled, culminating in an excess of mismanaged waste. Encouraging and incentivizing public participation in recycling through a machine learning-powered waste collection mobile app aims to reduce the amount of waste turning into litter.

"Receiving this fellowship and funding from Google.org will catalyze Bower's work towards creating a trash-free tomorrow. This recognition fuels our dedication towards creating groundbreaking waste-sorting solutions. Now, with added expertise from some of the industry's brightest minds, we're better positioned to advance circularity at this critical juncture," said Suwar Mert, co-founder and CEO at Bower.

With the backing of Google.org, Bower aims to save approximately 500,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents annually by nurturing a culture of sustainable behaviours and recycling practices.

"At Google, we believe AI can have a transformative impact on our ability to tackle some of the most pressing issues we face, including climate and environmental challenges," said Rowan Barnett, head of Google.org in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "Our goal is to bring the best of our resources to help catalyze and develop impactful, tech-enabled solutions and that is why we are delighted to be supporting Bower."