DETROIT, MI November 21, 2024 – Orange Sparkle Ball announces the launch of the Penny Pickup platform, a groundbreaking initiative that utilizes a portfolio of autonomous and micromobility solutions to manage material redistribution in an environmentally sustainable way. The platform allows users to hail robots for the collection of multiple waste types—such as food waste, non-traditional recyclables, and e-waste—ensuring that these materials are directed to destinations where they can be reused, recycled, or processed.
Over the past 12 months, Orange Sparkle Ball has been exploring how micromobility solutions can efficiently pick up and redistribute materials from residential and commercial users. The company has been testing in the Transportation Innovation Zone (TIZ) established by the City of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation (OMI) in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, gathering insights from a series of pilots funded through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME).
The result of the ongoing learnings is Penny Pickup, a versatile hail-a-bot platform. This platform enables both one-time and recurring residential and commercial pickups of various materials, with the goal of diverting waste from landfills and promoting sustainable practices. The platform launches with the pickup of commercial food waste for processing into bioplastics by Detroit-based Ecosphere Organics, as well as the pickup of grocery bags for recycling by RecycleHere! and the pickup of electronic waste for refurbishment, reuse, or recycling by Human-I-T. Detroit-based robotic startup Intermode will pick up and transport materials for processing by respective materials partners.
“We’re excited to take our years of experience testing autonomous robotic solutions and focus on building a platform for the pick up of materials for sustainable processing. And Detroit is a fantastic place to deploy the platform, as the city is focused both on future mobility technology opportunities and the needs of communities"
- Ashley Touchton, Partner at Orange Sparkle Ball
By the end of 2024, Orange Sparkle Ball will have tested the pickup of four different materials to be processed by 4 materials processors. Additionally, in 2025, the platform will be adapted for larger commercial properties, broadening its impact. Penny Pickup is also recruiting materials processors and technology vendors interested in participating in the platform.
"As a Michigander, I’m particularly proud to be working in Detroit. The unique expedited permitting process implemented by the City of Detroit in a first-of-its-kind Transportation Innovation Zone and the mobility funding platform from the State of Michigan built to support startups is allowing us to build Penny Pickup in Michigan, partnering with several Michigan-based technology companies and community partners."
- Meaghan Kennedy, Founder, Orange Sparkle Ball
If you would like more information, please email Ashley Touchton at ashleyt@orangesparkleball.com.
About Orange Sparkle Ball
Orange Sparkle Ball is an innovation and impact accelerator, activating change through research, technology, and human-centered design. Orange Sparkle Ball creates organization and community-focused innovation programs, runs data-driven pilots to demonstrate proof of the future state, creates multi-faceted communication strategies to stakeholders, and develops environments that support progress toward key metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs). Experience with government, industry, technology startups, public/private partnerships, and academia allows Orange Sparkle Ball to provide a full ecosystem approach to customized solutions. For further information about Orange Sparkle Ball, please visit www.orangesparkleball.com.
About Penny Pickup
Penny Pickup is a platform where micromobility solutions can be hailed for eco-friendly material and waste pickup, allowing them to be redistributed to the most sustainable processing destination. This ensures their proper reuse, recycling, refurbishment, and redistribution. For further information about Penny Pickup, please visit www.pennypickup.com.