Recycle Coach Expands into UK Through Partnership with Bartec

Recycle Coach is entering the UK market through a partnership with Bartec Municipal Technologies, in a move aimed at strengthening how local councils communicate recycling guidance to residents, according to a company announcement.

Under the agreement, Bartec will distribute Recycle Coach’s digital engagement platform across the United Kingdom, adding a resident-facing layer to its existing waste management software used by a significant share of UK councils.

Bartec’s systems are widely deployed to manage collection schedules, service performance and operational data. The addition of Recycle Coach’s tools is designed to connect those back-end systems with households, giving residents more direct access to information on sorting, collection and recycling rules.

Recycle Coach provides mobile and web-based tools such as collection reminders and location-specific recycling guidance. These features are intended to help councils address persistent issues such as low participation rates and contamination in recycling streams, which can reduce material quality and increase processing costs.

The partnership comes as UK councils roll out more standardized recycling systems and expand the range of materials collected. As services become more uniform, but also more detailed, clear communication with residents is becoming increasingly important to ensure compliance.

Both companies said integrating operational data with digital communication channels will allow councils to deliver more consistent and targeted messaging. This could help reduce confusion among households over what materials can be recycled and how they should be sorted.

The collaboration also aligns with national policy goals. The UK government is targeting a municipal recycling rate of 65% by 2035, a target that will depend not only on infrastructure upgrades but also on improved public participation.

For Bartec, the partnership extends its offering beyond operational software into resident engagement. For Recycle Coach, it marks a step in expanding outside North America and into a market where councils are under increasing pressure to improve recycling outcomes.

As regulatory requirements tighten and contamination remains a key challenge, digital tools that help translate complex recycling rules into simple, household-level guidance are becoming more widely adopted across the sector.

Source: Recycle Coach

SUNSHINE Spotlight: The Recycle Coach–Bartec partnership reflects how UK councils are turning to digital tools to improve recycling participation and reduce contamination as policy targets tighten.