Wasted*

Cover Block

PUBLIC

Attribute	Value
Name	Wasted* PBC (often branded as Wasted or Wasted Earth)
Tagline	Designs and operates urine-diverting portable toilets, turning human waste into agricultural fertilizer.
Headquarters	Burlington, VT
Founded	2022
Stage	Seed
Business Model	Other (Public Benefit Corporation, service-based)
Industry	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology	Hardware
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding Label	Seed
Total Disclosed Funding	~$7,500,000 (estimated) [Business Insider, Jan 2023]

Links

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• Website: https://wasted.earth
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wasted-earth

Executive Summary

PUBLIC

Wasted* PBC is a public benefit corporation redesigning portable sanitation to close the nutrient loop, transforming human waste into agricultural fertilizer and positioning itself at the intersection of circular economy and climate resilience [Business Insider, Jan 2023]. The company, founded in 2022, has raised $7.5 million to deploy its urine-diverting, solar-powered portable toilets, primarily for events and venues in the Northeastern U.S. [Business Insider, Jan 2023]. Its core innovation is a hardware and service model that separates urine from feces at the source, preserving nutrients for processing into fertilizer and eliminating the need for chemical treatments [PitchBook].

The founding team, led by Alexandra Miles, Taylor Zehren, and Thor Retzlaff, brings a focus on circular systems and sanitation entrepreneurship, though their prior operational backgrounds in scaled hardware or waste management are not detailed in public sources [Business Insider, Jan 2023][Dealroom]. The business model combines rental revenue from portable toilet services with potential future product sales from processed fertilizer, aiming to address both waste management and food security. The seed round was led by Collaborative Fund and Divergent Capital, signaling institutional impact capital support for the circular sanitation thesis [Business Insider, Jan 2023].

Over the next 12-18 months, the key milestones to watch are geographic expansion beyond its initial Burlington, Boston, and Cape Cod service areas, the scaling of its collection and processing logistics, and the formation of offtake agreements for its fertilizer products to validate the agricultural side of its circular model.

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core company description, funding total, and founding team are confirmed by Business Insider and Crunchbase; product claims are corroborated by PitchBook and the company website.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Value
Stage	Seed
Business Model	Other (Hardware/Service)
Industry / Vertical	Cleantech / Climatetech
Technology Type	Hardware
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding	Seed (total disclosed ~$7,500,000)

Company Overview

PUBLIC

Wasted* PBC was founded in 2022 as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that formally commits the company to pursuing a social or environmental mission alongside profit [Crunchbase]. The founding team, which includes Alexandra Miles, Taylor Zehren, Thor Retzlaff, and Brophy Tyree, established the company in Burlington, Vermont, where it remains headquartered [Business Insider, Jan 2023][Forbes, Nov 2023]. The company's origin centers on a direct, material proposition: to close the nutrient loop between human sanitation and agricultural production by redesigning the portable toilet.

The company's first significant funding milestone was an unannounced pre-seed round, the size of which remains undisclosed [Business Insider, Jan 2023]. This was followed by a $5.7 million seed round announced in January 2023, led by Collaborative Fund and Divergent Capital, bringing total disclosed capital to an estimated $7.5 million [Business Insider, Jan 2023]. The funding was earmarked for scaling the company's core service of deploying and operating its proprietary sanitation units.

Operational milestones have been geographically focused. The company began offering its eco-friendly portable toilet and waste collection services in its home region of Burlington, Vermont [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024]. It has since expanded service to the Boston and Cape Cod, Massachusetts areas, and operates in northern Vermont towns including Milton and Williston [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024][wasted.earth, retrieved 2026]. A notable early deployment is a 'Donation Station' at Stowe Mountain Resort, implemented as part of the resort operator Vail Resorts' broader sustainability initiatives [wasted.earth, retrieved 2026].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Founding, funding, and location details are confirmed by multiple independent sources including Business Insider, Crunchbase, and the company website.

Product and Technology

MIXED The core proposition is a hardware and service system designed to intercept and repurpose human waste before it enters the municipal sewer system. Wasted* builds and deploys portable toilets that separate urine from feces at the point of use, a design choice central to its circular economy model [Business Insider, Jan 2023]. The units are described as waterless, solar-powered, and ventilated, eliminating the need for chemical deodorants and reducing water consumption [Forbes, Nov 2023]. This physical infrastructure is paired with a collection service, where the separated waste streams are transported for processing.

The subsequent transformation of collected urine into a stable agricultural fertilizer is the value-creation engine. The company's public communications frame urine not as waste but as a nutrient-rich "raw feedstock" for agriculture [PUBLIC] [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026]. While the specific chemical processing steps are not detailed in public materials, the separation technology is cited as key to preserving nutrient integrity and simplifying downstream treatment [PitchBook, retrieved 2024]. The end product is positioned as a sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilizers, addressing both sanitation management and agricultural input needs in a single system.

Current product deployment appears focused on a service model for events and specific venues. The company lists availability in Burlington, Vermont, Boston, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024]. A named deployment is its 'Donation Station' at Stowe Mountain Resort, operating as part of the resort's sustainability initiatives [PUBLIC] [wasted.earth, retrieved 2026]. This suggests an initial go-to-market through partnerships with organizations that have public environmental, social, and governance goals, where the sustainability narrative provides a premium service angle.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product claims are consistent across multiple press reports and the company website, but technical details on the processing chemistry and fertilizer output specifications are not publicly available.

Market Research

MIXED The market for Wasted* is defined less by a single product category than by the convergence of two distinct, high-stakes global challenges: sanitation and sustainable agriculture.

The company's core proposition bridges the portable sanitation and agricultural inputs markets. The global portable toilet market was valued at approximately $16.5 billion in 2022, with growth driven by construction activity and large-scale events [Grand View Research, 2023]. This serves as an analogous market for the service side of Wasted*'s business. The agricultural fertilizer market is substantially larger, estimated at over $200 billion globally, with increasing demand for sustainable and circular nutrient sources [IFA, 2023]. Wasted*'s SAM is the intersection of these two, targeting event organizers, venues, and municipalities with explicit sustainability mandates who are willing to pay a premium for a closed-loop waste solution.

Demand is driven by several macro tailwinds. First, growing regulatory and corporate pressure to reduce nutrient pollution from wastewater and synthetic fertilizer runoff is creating markets for nutrient recovery. Second, the volatility of conventional fertilizer supply chains, exacerbated by geopolitical tensions, has heightened interest in local, circular alternatives. Third, the rise of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria for large event organizers and venue operators, such as Vail Resorts, creates a procurement pathway for services that demonstrably reduce environmental impact [wasted.earth, retrieved 2026].

Key adjacent markets include municipal wastewater treatment and the broader circular economy for organic waste. Municipalities facing aging infrastructure and stringent nutrient discharge limits represent a potential long-term customer segment, though one with longer sales cycles and complex regulations. The regulatory landscape is a double-edged force. While environmental regulations can drive adoption by penalizing linear waste systems, Wasted* must also navigate health and safety regulations governing human waste collection, processing, and the sale of derived fertilizer products, which vary significantly by state and municipality.

Portable Sanitation Market (2022) | 16.5 | $B
Global Fertilizer Market (2023) | 200 | $B

The chart illustrates the substantial addressable pools on either side of Wasted*'s model. The analyst takeaway is that the company's potential scale is not limited by the niche of portable toilets but by its ability to capture value from the recovered nutrients within the vast agricultural inputs market. The wedge of event-based sanitation provides a capital-efficient entry point into nutrient collection.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing figures are from third-party industry reports for analogous sectors, not specific to the circular sanitation niche. Demand drivers are inferred from macro trends and cited corporate partnerships.

Competitive Landscape

MIXED Wasted* enters a market defined by two distinct and largely non-overlapping competitive sets: the established, low-margin industrial sanitation incumbents and a nascent cohort of circular economy startups targeting nutrient recovery.

A direct, named competitor is absent from public coverage, which is typical for a company pioneering a specific hardware-service model at the intersection of sanitation and agriculture. The competitive map must therefore be drawn from adjacent categories.

• Traditional portable sanitation. Dominated by large national operators like United Rentals (which absorbed the portable sanitation division of Baker Corp) and regional service providers. Their business is built on volume, logistics efficiency, and chemical waste treatment. The competitive edge is scale and ubiquity; the weakness is a pure cost-plus service model with no product revenue from waste. Wasted* does not compete on price or availability but on a sustainability value proposition that commands a premium from environmentally conscious event organizers [Business Insider, Jan 2023].
• Wastewater treatment utilities and municipalities. These entities manage the centralized sewage system into which traditional portable waste is ultimately discharged. They are not commercial competitors but represent a regulatory and processing ecosystem Wasted* bypasses. Their advantage is entrenched infrastructure and permitting; their exposure is aging systems and high capital costs for nutrient recovery upgrades.
• Circular agriculture inputs. Startups like Loam Bio (soil carbon) or Pivot Bio (microbial nitrogen) are competing for the same agricultural budget and sustainability goals but address different parts of the input supply chain. They compete for farmer attention and distributor relationships, not for toilet service contracts. Wasted*’s defensible edge here is a proprietary, closed-loop nutrient source,human urine,that these companies cannot access [Business Insider, Jan 2023].
• Other nutrient recovery ventures. A small number of early-stage companies, such as Rich Earth Institute (a Vermont-based non-profit research organization), explore urine diversion and recycling. These often remain in pilot or research phases, lacking the integrated hardware-service-operations model Wasted* is scaling. The competitive exposure for Wasted* is not from a like-for-like rival but from the risk that a well-capitalized incumbent or a new venture replicates its model after market validation.

Wasted*’s defensible edge today rests on three integrated components: its proprietary urine-diverting toilet hardware, its collection logistics network in initial service regions, and its processing pathway to a sellable fertilizer product [Forbes, Nov 2023]. This edge is perishable if any one link is easily replicated. The hardware design, while innovative, could be reverse-engineered. The logistics network, currently covering parts of Vermont and Massachusetts, is shallow and could be outflanked by a competitor with deeper fleet resources [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024]. The most durable advantage may be first-mover brand recognition in the niche of "circular sanitation" and the operational knowledge of navigating the regulatory path for a human waste-derived agricultural product.

The company is most exposed in two areas. First, on the service side, it lacks the national footprint and dense depot network of the traditional portable toilet giants, limiting its ability to serve large, multi-location events. Second, on the product side, it must build an agricultural sales channel from scratch against established fertilizer distributors and brands, a task requiring agronomic validation and farmer trust that its competitors in circular ag have already begun.

The most plausible 18-month competitive scenario is market segmentation rather than direct confrontation. A winner emerges if municipal or large-scale event sustainability mandates accelerate, creating a dedicated budget line for nutrient-recycling sanitation where Wasted*’s integrated model is the only qualified provider. In that case, regional incumbents would be the losers, as they would lack the processing technology and agricultural product to compete beyond the basic service contract. Conversely, Wasted* would face headwinds if a major incumbent, sensing the premium market, partners with a nutrient recovery specialist to offer a "green" porta-potty service without the capital intensity of building its own processing plant. The loser in that partnership scenario would be Wasted*, as its technology wedge becomes a commoditized feature offered by a competitor with superior distribution.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitive analysis is inferred from market structure and adjacent players; no direct competitor named in sources.

Opportunity

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If Wasted* can successfully scale its collection and processing network, the prize is a foundational role in a circular economy that could transform two of the world's most resource-intensive systems: sanitation and agriculture.

The headline opportunity is to become the default infrastructure for nutrient recovery from human waste in North America. The company's core thesis, as reported by investors, is a "multi-pronged approach - solving sanitation and food security" [Business Insider, Jan 2023]. This positions Wasted* not merely as a greener porta-potty vendor, but as a critical link in a new supply chain. The outcome is plausible because the company has already moved from concept to deployment, operating its urine-diverting toilets and collection services in Burlington, VT, and parts of Massachusetts [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024]. The technology, which separates urine to preserve nutrient integrity, is a proven method for producing fertilizer [PitchBook, retrieved 2024]. The path from a regional service to a default infrastructure player hinges on replicating its operational model at a much larger scale.

Growth from a regional service to a national nutrient recovery platform could follow several concrete paths.

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
Event-Operator Standard	Wasted* becomes the preferred sanitation provider for major festivals, sports venues, and ski resorts with public sustainability pledges.	A multi-year, multi-location partnership with a large venue operator like Vail Resorts, building on the existing 'Donation Station' at Stowe Mountain Resort [wasted.earth, retrieved 2026].	The service is already marketed for events, and the target customer base values demonstrable green initiatives.
Municipal Pilot to Policy	A city adopts Wasted*'s system for a district or public housing project, creating a blueprint for municipal waste diversion.	Winning a public tender or grant-funded pilot project in a progressive municipality, similar to Burlington, VT.	Municipalities face rising costs for wastewater treatment and are under pressure to meet climate goals, creating an opening for innovative, cost-neutral solutions.
Agricultural Co-op Partnership	Wasted* partners with a large agricultural cooperative to supply processed fertilizer, creating a guaranteed offtake and validating the product.	A formal agreement with a regional farming cooperative to supply a specific volume of fertilizer annually.	The agricultural end-market for the product is clear and large; securing a committed buyer de-risks the scaling of collection operations.

Compounding for Wasted* would look like a classic two-sided network effect, but applied to physical logistics. Each new deployment of toilets increases the density of collection points, which lowers the per-unit cost of servicing and processing. More processed fertilizer output strengthens the company's value proposition to agricultural buyers, which in turn provides more revenue to fund further toilet deployments. Early evidence of this flywheel is suggested by the expansion of its service area from an initial launch to now include Boston and Cape Cod [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024]. The more toilets in the field, the stronger the company's operational data moat on optimal collection routes, processing yields, and end-product quality.

The size of the win can be framed by looking at the markets it intersects. While no direct public comparable exists, the global portable toilet rental market was valued at approximately $17 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow [Grand View Research, 2023]. The global fertilizer market, into which Wasted* sells its output, is orders of magnitude larger, exceeding $200 billion [Fortune Business Insights, 2023]. If the Event-Operator Standard scenario plays out, Wasted* could capture a meaningful segment of the premium, sustainability-focused portable sanitation market. A conservative scenario might see the company achieving a valuation comparable to established specialty rental and waste service companies, which often trade at revenue multiples of 1x-2x. A more ambitious outcome, where it becomes a recognized nutrient recovery platform, could support a premium valuation based on recurring fertilizer sales and environmental credits. This is a scenario, not a forecast, but it illustrates the potential scale if execution aligns with the underlying market need.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Opportunity scenarios are constructed from public evidence of the company's model and target markets, but specific catalysts and comparables rely on general industry sizing.

Sources

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1. [Business Insider, Jan 2023] This startup turning human waste into fertilizer just raised $7.5 million. | https://www.businessinsider.com/wasted-7-million-pee-poop-fertilizer-collaborative-fund-pitch-deck-2023-1

2. [Crunchbase] Wasted* - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/wasted-426f

3. [PitchBook] wasted* 2026 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/493328-08

4. [wasted.earth, retrieved 2024] Wasted.earth | https://wasted.earth

5. [Forbes, Nov 2023] Under 30 2024 Social Impact: Meet The Young Leaders Building Sustainable Businesses And A More Just World | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2023/11/28/under-30-2024-social-impact-meet-the-young-leaders-building-sustainable-businesses-and-a-more-just-world/

6. [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] Thor Retzlaff - wasted* | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/thor-retzlaff/

7. [wasted.earth, retrieved 2026] Burlington, VT | Portable Waste Management Solutions | Wasted* | https://wasted.earth/burlington-vt/

8. [Dealroom] Wasted Earth | https://app.dealroom.co/companies/wasted_

9. [Grand View Research, 2023] Portable Toilet Rental Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/portable-toilet-rental-market

10. [IFA, 2023] Fertilizer Market Outlook | https://www.fertilizer.org

11. [Fortune Business Insights, 2023] Fertilizer Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis | https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/fertilizers-market-102116