Recyclebank ‘The Next Big Thing’ Among Clean-Tech and Venture-Backed Firms

Recyclebank, the website that rewards the public for recycling, has topped the Wall Street Journal’s list of top ten clean-tech companies.

The newspaper announced the ranking yesterday at its ECO:nomics Executive Conference in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Journal also announced that it will name Recyclebank “The Next Big Thing” in rankings of the top 50 U.S.-based, venture-backed companies across all industries. The rankings will be published on March 10.

Recyclebank uses discounts and deals from more than 3,000 local and national businesses to reward people for making environmental pledges, such as promising to use less energy, increase their recycling or educate themselves on sustainability issues.

The Top 10 Clean-Tech ranking seeks to identify companies in the environmental technology sector that have the greatest potential to succeed. The newspaper selected Recyclebank based on the amount of capital the company has raised in the past three years, the track records of its executives, managers and investors and the percent change in its valuation in the past 12 months.

Investors in Recyclebank include Generation Investment Management, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, Paul Capital Investments, Physic Ventures, RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners and the Westly Group.

“Recyclebank is off to an incredible start this year: we’ve launched a new and improved online customer experience and developed an innovative plan to counterbalance landfill,” CEO Jonathan Hsu said at the ECO:nomics conference. “The recognition by the Wall Street Journal as the number one company in clean technology adds to our momentum and we are simply thrilled.

“We firmly believe that motivating consumers to take small green actions can have a significant and long-lasting impact on the environment,” Hsu added. “This recognition empowers us to continue our mission of realizing a world without waste.”

Last September Recyclebank launched digital and social media initiatives in an effort to educate consumers on how to recycle, and last November set a goal of adding two million more people to its green rewards program within a year.