I have been involved with recycling since the mid-80s. I hate waste—whether as in Lean or as in throwing stuff away. This news came to me from a company called Woodchuck—a clever play on words since they recycle wood. Also a good example of effective use of AI.
Grand Rapids, Michigan – March 24, 2026 – Woodchuck, the AI-powered climate-tech startup redefining how construction and manufacturing industries handle wood waste, today announced a joint sustainability initiative with Walbridge, one of the nation’s top industrial and automotive constructors. The program supports Ford Motor Company’s construction waste-reduction efforts at its new manufacturing facility in Marshall, Mich.
In the first three months, the program has given teams a clearer view of the materials being discarded, diversion rates, cost reductions, and operational efficiency — already achieving 40% of the project’s projected materials-related savings. This early progress offers Walbridge a powerful solution to address customers’ waste management needs and lays the groundwork for a new standard operating procedure for future large-scale construction projects.
A Legacy Builder Confronts a Modern Waste Challenge
For more than a century, Walbridge has delivered some of the most complex automotive and industrial projects in North America. As Walbridge’s customers expand their sustainability commitments, construction waste management is a growing priority — particularly on megaprojects where the volume and variability of materials can shift daily.
On the Ford project, wood waste quickly emerged as one of the most unpredictable waste elements. Crating, dunnage, international shipping pallets, and custom rigging arrived in wide-ranging sizes and material types, creating a diverse and constantly changing waste stream.
These complexities revealed opportunities for innovation. Walbridge saw the potential to elevate efficiency, reduce hauling expenses, and strengthen alignment with Ford’s sustainability goals. The need for real-time visibility into container levels and the makeup of each load became a catalyst for adopting a smarter, data-driven solution — one that made waste handling more predictable, cost-effective and sustainable.
“Our partnership with Woodchuck is built on collaboration. Transparent and real-time communication allows our team to adapt quickly to changing material waste streams on the ground. Detailed information about each load provides complete visibility not only into what is diverted from a landfill, but also into its end destination and intended use, delivering transparency and enabling measurable sustainability outcomes,” said Sander Mathijs, Walbridge Sustainability Manager. “Another key program feature is its ability to scale, allowing us to calibrate capacity and scope to meet the waste‑diversion needs of the project.”
Woodchuck’s AI Platform Delivers Immediate, Scalable Impact
Woodchuck.ai leverages its AI platform across the Ford project to track, report and validate the diversion of wood, cardboard, plastic, and metal; all with minimal onsite labor and seamless integration into Walbridge’s existing workflows.
Walbridge saw meaningful improvements within the first quarter diverting thousands of tons of wood, cardboard, plastic and metal; reducing waste, reducing landfill dependency, and reducing costs. Over the course of the project, Woodchuck will divert 8,000 tons of wood and 1,000 tons of cardboard, plastic, and metal from landfills.
Woodchuck’s detailed reporting also strengthens accountability, giving Walbridge clear data documenting recycling and reuse for both internal tracking and customer sustainability documentation.
Because the Woodchuck platform is designed for large, multi-phase construction programs, the improvements seen at the Marshall project can be replicated at scale. Whether deployed on a single megaproject or rolled out across multiple sites, contractors gain the same visibility, control, and cost efficiencies, making the solution a powerful model for nationwide waste management and sustainability performance.
“Our partnership with Woodchuck has been a game-changer,” said Ross Linton, Group Vice President, Walbridge. “In just a few short months, they’ve helped us transform our waste process to one that’s measurable, trackable, and easily managed. Our team is empowered to plan ahead, driving efficiency and sustainability. We’re excited about the future possibilities this collaboration brings.”
Creating a New Standard for Future Walbridge Projects
Based on early results, Walbridge expects the Woodchuck-enabled process to become a foundation for future large-scale builds across automotive, manufacturing, technology, and advanced industrial sectors.
“Walbridge is demonstrating what it looks like when a contractor treats waste as a strategic input rather than an afterthought,” said Todd Thomas, CEO of Woodchuck. “By embracing real-time data, AI-enabled insights, and a commitment to measurable sustainability outcomes, they’re proving that smarter waste management isn’t just good for the environment — it’s good for productivity, cost efficiency, and project certainty. Their leadership on Ford’s Marshall project shows what’s possible when innovation becomes part of the construction workflow, and they’re setting the pace for how the industry will operate going forward.”
About Woodchuck
Woodchuck is a climate impact start-up dedicated to empowering contractors, manufacturers, and biomass energy producers by streamlining wood waste diversion and processing. We are committed to leveraging advanced AI technologies to transform waste into valuable resources, reduce landfill usage, and provide a steady, sustainable supply of biomass. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Woodchuck is funded by an investor syndicate led by Mason Fink, Beckett Industries, NorthStar Clean Energy and Alloy Partners. For more information, visit https://woodchuck.ai/.
About Walbridge
Walbridge is one of America’s largest privately held construction companies founded in Detroit in 1916. The company offers construction management, engineering, and real estate services for customers in manufacturing, hyperscale data centers, automotive, defense, higher education, health care, and government. Walbridge employs more than 1,500 professionals in North America. Visit www.walbridge.com or connect with us on LinkedIn to learn more.
Process Description
Woodchuck uses AI in two fundamentally different—but tightly connected—ways: at the job site and in the data layer. Together, they turn what was once an opaque, manual waste process into a real-time, measurable system.
1. AI at the Job Site: Shifting Sorting to the Beginning. Traditionally, construction waste sorting happens after the dumpster is full—if it happens at all.
- That process is:
- Manual and labor-intensive
- Expensive to perform at scale
- Logistically inefficient
- Often skipped entirely
The result? Most mixed construction debris—especially wood—ends up in landfills, even when it could have been reused or converted into energy.
Woodchuck flips this model.
Instead of waiting until the end, Woodchuck uses AI-enabled image recognition at the point of disposal:
- As materials are placed into dumpsters, cameras and sensors identify what’s being thrown away
- The system distinguishes wood from other materials in real time
- It guides proper usage of containers and flags contamination early
This front-end sorting approach changes everything:
- Reduces contamination before it becomes a problem
- Eliminates the need for costly post-collection sorting
- Increases diversion rates dramatically (from <30% to >95%)
- Ensures clean wood streams that can be converted into renewable biomass
In short, AI moves sorting from a reactive, end-of-process activity to a proactive, in-the-moment decision.
2. AI in the Data Layer: Turning Waste into Intelligence
Once materials are collected, Woodchuck’s platform continues to track and analyze everything that happens next. This is where the second layer of AI comes in: data aggregation, modeling, and reporting.
- Through its dashboard, Woodchuck provides construction companies, developers, and asset owners with full visibility into their waste streams, including:
- Material tracking
- Exactly how much wood was collected, where it came from, and how it was processed
- End-of-life transparency
- Clear documentation showing where the material went—whether to biomass facilities or other reuse pathways
- Carbon impact metrics
- Precise calculations of:
- CO₂e emissions avoided from landfill diversion
- Carbon benefits from renewable energy generation
- Energy output conversion
- How much renewable energy was produced from their waste (e.g., BTUs generated, equivalent homes powered)
- Operational insights
- Trends across projects, contamination rates, and opportunities to improve efficiency
This transforms waste reporting from a rough estimate into a verified, auditable dataset—something increasingly critical for:
- ESG reporting
- Regulatory compliance
- Winning sustainability-driven bids
- Internal performance benchmarking
3. From Waste Management to a Measurable System
What makes Woodchuck different is not just the use of AI—it’s where and how it’s applied:
- At the edge (job site): AI drives behavior change and improves material quality in real time
- In the platform (dashboard): AI converts operational data into financial, environmental, and strategic insights
The result is a closed-loop system where:
- Waste is captured correctly from the start
- Materials are tracked through their full lifecycle
- Outcomes are quantified and reported with precision
Construction companies no longer have to guess what happened to their waste—or treat it as a cost center.
They can see it, measure it, and increasingly, use it as a source of savings, energy, and competitive advantage.
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