Greg Lettieri: Building Sustainable Futures With A Better Waste Company

Photo Credit: Courtesy of SnowflakeNYC, Inc.

Through the revolutionary lens of innovative sustainability, Greg Lettieri, CEO of Recycle Track Systems (RTS), is reimagining the realm of waste management to enhance cities and communities. Founded in 2015, RTS is transforming the waste industry through efficient initiatives to “enrich the city’s character and vibrancy,” ensuring a more sustainable future for generations to come. RTS helps companies to adopt conscious routines and promote transparency in their operations. Leveraging AI data, strategic insight, and technology driven solutions, this innovative approach serves as a newfound step to reshape the industry towards environmental stewardship. The overarching mission, encapsulated by the company’s tagline “A Better Waste Company,” spotlights RTS as a force for positive change.

With the goal to develop and exemplify an environmentally effective conscious system, RTS has garnered an extensive roster of prestigious partnerships. Many have “probably interacted with RTS without realizing it” due to the company’s seamless handling of operations. Showcasing efficiency in high traffic venues, their stadium partners include Citi Field, Barclays Center, Nationals Park, and Kauffman Stadium. Through gamifying recycling practices, sports fans are incentivized with rewards at Cycle reverse vending machines at Eagles, Ravens, and Nationals events. Further, RTS boasts a luxury brand partnership with Coach. In collaboration with Coach’s Reloved Repair Workshop, this sustainability initiative achieved the coveted TRUE Gold-Level Zero Waste Certification.

Driven by technological innovation, AI and machine learning rest at the foundation of RTS operations. Lettieri explains that “trash is data we haven’t fully tapped into yet — it’s a source of sustainable practices and financial value waiting to be unlocked.” Beginning with data collection on customer behavior, the aid of front-end AI informs and improves recycling rates. Platforms such as Pello serve as back-end AI optimizing collection routes and reducing potential inefficiencies. Using these innovative resources “[influences] how cities develop sustainable practices and policies for the future.” An explicit showcase of this is how RTS captures data insights to work alongside New York City in commercial waste zones cutting emissions and reducing congestion.

Lettieri emphasizes that “technology matters, but at the end of the day, it’s also about people.” Watching his two sons interact with waste haulers serves as a continuous reminder that sustainability awareness begins with the early knowledge of how small actions accumulate. This sentiment is mirrored in Lettieri’s leadership with visionary thinking rooted in familial values and communal prosperity. He shares, “This industry is built on family businesses. It’s a community program, not just a business.”

The RTS vision of smarter and more sustainable waste management is currently paving the way for future innovations. While the grand messaging of industry change is ambitious and admirable, Lettieri offers the reminder that “the real hard work happens at 3 a.m., when our frontline workers are out there, keeping our cities clean and safe. They’re the unsung champions of sustainability, and we’re committed to giving them the tools, support, and safety measures they need to keep our communities running smoothly and sustainably.” With leaders like Greg Lettieri at the helm, RTS’s influence as “A Better Waste Company” attests that innovative sustainability, ethical technology, and human connection are the foundation of a better, cleaner future.