Limetrack raises £1.3m to scale SMART Bins ahead of UK’s Simpler Recycling rollout
This article covers Limetrack, a London-based food waste technology company, which has raised £1.3m in combined debt and equity to expand production and deployment of its IoT-enabled SMART Bin. The funding is intended to help the company scale manufacturing and support organisations such as NHS trusts, hotel groups and waste managers to comply with the Simpler Recycling rules and improve food-waste reporting across the UK and Europe.
Limetrack, a London-based food waste technology business, has raised £1.3 million in combined debt and equity to expand production and deployment of its IoT-enabled SMART Bin as UK waste rules tighten. The funding and the company’s existing customer base — which includes NHS trusts, hotel groups and major waste management firms — positions Limetrack to respond to the UK’s Simpler Recycling legislation and a wider European market opportunity.
Why it matters
From March 2025 the UK’s Simpler Recycling rules require many organisations to separate food waste and digitise reporting, with smaller businesses phased in by April 2027. DEFRA estimates 2.2 million sites will be affected in 2025, rising to 6.2 million by 2027. That regulatory shift, combined with a commercial market Limetrack values at about £160 million in the UK and roughly £1 billion across Europe, is creating demand for affordable, auditable food waste measurement.
Accurate weight and user-level data can reduce collection frequency, optimise routing and demonstrate compliance — all of which matter to operators managing distributed estates such as hospitals, hotels and multi-site retailers.
Inside the product
Limetrack’s solution pairs a patented, IoT-enabled bin with a cloud analytics platform. Each deposit is recorded by user, weight and regulatory category using RFID-controlled access and precision weighing. The system produces compliance-ready reports and carbon estimates without manual logging. The company says future capabilities — AI-driven analytics and EPOS integration — are planned for 2027.
Limetrack does not handle waste collection itself. Instead it supplies data to logistics and waste providers to improve collection routing and avoid unnecessary visits. That low-capex model is intended to work across sites that share a bin and to support billing by user or location.
Operational targets attached to the round are concrete: Limetrack plans to raise manufacturing from around 20 SMART Bins a week to 250 a week within 10 to 12 months and has a pipeline of more than 5,700 units for 2026. The company manufactures in Kingston-upon-Thames and is headquartered in Twickenham.
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Andy King, Co-founder and CEO of Limetrack, said:
We are delighted to have secured the funding to scale Limetrack up to meet the needs of UK organisations facing multiple pressures to reduce cost and measure food waste.
A big thank you to all our investors. Their backing will allow us to move much faster – manufacturing at scale, deepening integration and delivering the frictionless, trustworthy data our rapidly growing customer base requires.
We aim to make food waste measurement effortless so that businesses can report with confidence, while cutting costs and carbon emissions. With 10.7 million tonnes of food wasted each year in the UK there is a huge opportunity, and the recent introduction of Simpler Recycling legislation means there is a legal necessity for most businesses, as well as an economic incentive. DEFRA projects 2.2 million UK sites will be affected in 2025, growing to 6.2 million by 2027.
It’s been a brilliant journey so far, but we’re only just getting started. Of the 1.7 million UK and 10.3 million European commercial sites suitable for Limetrack’s SMART Bins, fewer than 40% currently use any form of food waste bin, providing a significant further market.
Our immediate focus is on scaling across the UK before expanding into Europe in 2027.
King co-founded Limetrack in 2021 with CTO Cord Schneider. King’s background includes manufacturing and operations roles across automotive and airport infrastructure, while Schneider brings software architecture experience in cloud, SaaS, AI and blockchain.
Who’s backing the round
The £1.3 million package comprises a £1 million loan from Innovate UK and £320,000 in equity from a mix of waste industry corporates, an impact venture capital fund and angel investors. The funds will be used to scale production and deployment of Limetrack’s next-generation SMART Bins, develop a high-volume design, advance the company’s intellectual property, support harmonised UK and EU certification, invest in production tooling and expand engineering, operations and customer delivery teams.
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The bigger picture
Limetrack already lists customers across several sectors: multiple NHS trusts (a high-volume, compliance-driven market), hotel groups including Hilton and Holiday Inn Express (consistent food waste generators across many sites), and major UK waste management firms that recommend the product to clients. Trials are under way with global hospitality firm Convene, broadcaster Sky and discussions are ongoing with airport and national retail chains.
The company has industry recognition, including Best Food Waste Solutions Provider at the Food and Drink Awards 2023 and a place on a global trends watchlist for 2024, and is a finalist in the Camden Challenge Prize.
As enforcement of Simpler Recycling and similar rules in Wales and Scotland increases, technology that provides auditable data will become more central to waste management strategies. Limetrack’s funding and production ramp signal how policy shifts are accelerating hardware and data plays in the UK and European waste management market.
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