Q+A: Spare-it CEO Laurent Canneva Shares Company's Mission
Spare-it Co-Founder and CEO Laurent Canneva talks to Sustainability Magazine about the evolution of the business.
What inspired you to found Spare-it, and how has the company’s mission evolved since its inception?
Spare-it did not come from a single epiphany so much as a change of perspective in my own life.
I spent almost 15 years in drug development at Sanofi, working every day on medicines that improve human health. Around the age of 40, I started asking myself a simple question: if I care this deeply about the health of people, what am I doing for the health of the planet we all share?
Living in Boston, you feel that question very strongly. You are surrounded by world-class innovation at places like Harvard and MIT, and at the same time, you are very close to the coastline and natural spaces that are beautiful but clearly under pressure.
That contrast between human creativity and environmental fragility is what pushed me to act. Spare-it started from a very practical observation. Most organisations want to reduce waste, but inside their buildings, waste is almost invisible.
It is treated as a black box. If we could make waste visible with simple, reliable data, we could help people make better decisions every day. Our mission began with a straightforward idea: measure waste more accurately at a granular level. It has since evolved into a broader ambition.
Today, Spare-it provides continuous waste intelligence that supports procurement, operations, employee engagement and zero-waste goals. The purpose remains the same as it was on day one: to connect waste data with meaningful action, so that fewer of our shared resources are wasted.
What problem were you seeing in the market that nobody else was solving?
At the time, even mature organisations with robust sustainability programmes had almost no visibility into what was happening with their waste inside the building. The data from haulers was sporadic, often estimated, and far from granular.
There was a need to help these organisations own their data, at a level that makes it actionable. Most waste programmes were designed based on annual manual waste audits. You conduct an audit, make changes to bins and signage, and then wait six months or a year to see if your changes were fruitful.
There was no quick way to test, learn and scale the activities and actions that truly moved the needle. Waste had become a blind spot: operationally, financially and culturally. You cannot manage what you do not measure.
Spare-it was created to make that black box visible with clear, granular data, so teams can see what is happening in their buildings and measure the value in near real time.
How do you define “Waste Intelligence” and why is it such a critical missing piece in sustainability today?
“Waste Intelligence” is about turning what sits in your bins into reliable, decision-ready data. It starts with accurate, scalable measurement and then adds the context you need to act.
At Spare-it, Waste Intelligence includes:
● Weight: continuous measurement of waste weight captured at a granular level by stream, floor and building
● Composition: image-based recognition that quantifies what is in the bins, how each stream is composed and where contamination comes from
● Normalisation and benchmarking: aligning data with local sorting rules and standards to enable performance comparison across sites and regions
● Decision support: simple recommendations and views that help teams improve procurement, bin placement, signage, cleaning routes and engagement programmes. In many sustainability programmes, energy and water are carefully tracked, while waste remains a blind spot. Waste Intelligence closes that gap, providing organisations with clear visibility into their waste streams, enabling them to improve operations, engage their people and track real progress toward their sustainability goals.
Spare-it’s tagline is “More Data. Less Waste.” What does that mean in practice for enterprises?
For enterprises, “More Data. Less Waste” means treating waste like any other managed resource: you cannot reduce what you do not measure. When organisations can see how much waste they generate, where it comes from and how their programmes perform, they can adjust procurement, operations and engagement based on evidence rather than guesswork.
Procurement, facilities and sustainability teams each use that same data for their own decisions, but the outcome is shared: smarter choices and less material, time and money wasted.
How does Spare-it use AI and computer vision to drive measurable sustainability outcomes?
If you do not know the largest contributors and contaminants in your bins, it is very hard to know where to start. Our AI computer vision is designed to provide those insights.
We analyse images from your waste streams to identify what is being thrown away, which items are generating the most waste and where contamination is coming from, then turn that into structured data.
That detail gives organisations a clear starting point for action. If our models show that snack wrappers are the top contaminant in your recycling, you know exactly which behaviour to target. If you have invested in compostable cups and our data shows they still end up in the trash, you know you have an engagement and education problem, not a procurement problem.
AI tells you not only how much waste you have, but also where the biggest opportunities lie. At scale, this becomes very powerful. Our system has processed over 150 million data points and we utilise AI not only for recognition but also to monitor data quality and track trends across sites over time.
We also work to run these models efficiently, ensuring the footprint of our AI remains small compared to the emissions and waste it helps our clients avoid.
What sets your solution apart from other waste-tracking or recycling initiatives on the market?
Spare-it is different because we do not solve just one piece of the problem. Many solutions focus on audits, hauling data, or smart bins in isolation. We bring everything together to provide a holistic view of how waste is generated in buildings and identify the biggest opportunities for change.
What makes us unique:
● We provide continuous weight data at a granular level, something you cannot get from images or invoices alone
● We map data onto your geographic footprint so teams can see hotspots and prioritise interventions
● We close the feedback loop with employees through live, hyperlocal data displays that make progress visible in their everyday spaces
● We are globally deployed, giving large enterprises a consistent way to benchmark and learn across diverse sites and regions. Our entire system is designed to show not only how much and what you are throwing away, but which levers to pull first to drive meaningful change.
Can you explain how data from Spare-it’s technology transforms employee/personnel behaviour?
Behaviour change starts with visibility and feedback. In most spaces, people have no idea what happens after they throw something away, so waste feels invisible and abstract. Spare-it turns that into something people can actually see.
We display continuous, hyperlocal data in the spaces where people spend their day: kitchens, lounges, hallways, etc.. They can see how their floor or building is performing in terms of diversion and contamination and how today compares with yesterday.
We also add gamification, such as friendly competitions, progress bars and shout-outs for teams that improve. The goal is to make sustainable habits feel simple and rewarding. When people see that small changes in their sorting habits add up to visible progress, habits start to stick.
Over time, this combination of data and feedback helps organisations build a culture where reducing waste feels natural in everyday life, rather than a special project.
What have you learned from working with global sustainability leaders?
Sustainability leaders want to act, not just audit. The main lesson is simple and I’ve said it before: you cannot manage what you do not measure and traditional manual audits do not give them the visibility they need.
The leaders we work with are looking for three things:
● Plug-and-play technology that delivers high-quality data without requiring a significant IT or operational effort
● Quick wins that link operational changes to clear results, allowing them to demonstrate progress and build momentum
● Engagement tools that make sustainability visible and meaningful for the people in their buildings and spaces. Our partners, ranging from consulting firms to real estate and food and beverage, increasingly view Spare-it as a bridge between data, action and culture.
How does Spare-it tailor its solution for diverse environments like corporate offices, universities, stores, restaurants and large real estate portfolios?
The core idea is the same everywhere: generate clear, actionable waste data where it is created. Whether it is an office, a university, a store or a large real estate portfolio, Spare-it measures the same fundamentals, allowing organisations to see how much waste they generate, how well people are sorting and where they are missing opportunities.
Our hardware is plug-and-play. Scales and sensors work seamlessly with the bins you already have, requiring no Wi-Fi, so we are not asking teams to redesign their systems just to obtain better data. The same setup can live in a single building or across many locations.
For the teams rolling it out, Spare-it is meant to feel seamless. It fits in quietly and delivers reliable data in the background. For the people generating the waste and seeing the results, it is designed to feel engaging, with clear feedback and simple goals that make it easier to participate in reducing waste.
How do clients measure ROI or success with Spare-it?
Clients see ROI with Spare-it in a few clear ways. We start by asking what problem they want to solve, then use data to show whether we are actually moving that needle.
Across sectors, value usually shows up as:
● Compliance & Auditability: Spare-it delivers accurate, auditable waste data, ensuring portfolio-wide compliance and audit-ready ESG reporting.
● Procurement & Upstream Savings: Actionable insights expose inefficiencies and over-servicing, enabling smarter procurement decisions and meaningful upstream cost reductions.
● Brand Value & Process Control: Standardized, transparent waste processes strengthen your sustainability brand and demonstrate credible leadership in circularity.
● Facilities Efficiency & Cost Reduction: Data-driven optimization simplifies facilities operations, reduces labor and hauling costs, and prevents recurring waste issues.
● Employee Engagement & Culture: Surfacing data to employees and gamifying reduction to boost employee participation, reinforcing a workplace culture aligned with sustainability goals.
● Tax Benefits & Incentives: Improved measurement and diversion unlock eligibility for sustainability incentives, rebates, and tax-related benefits.