A Wisconsin-made smartphone app that helps people recycle better and track their composting is expanding its reach. 

Michelle Goetsch launched Betterbin in May 2018. The Wausau-based company's app allows people in participating communities to scan barcodes on groceries and household products to find out whether or not the items can be recycled where they live.

Recycling rules can vary a lot from place to place and what is recyclable isn't always intuitive. In many cities, for example, cardboard milk cartons and the plastic containers used for fruits aren't recyclable — even though the products likely have the three-arrow recycling symbol on their side. 

Goetsch, a former grant writer and one-time sports reporter, cares about reducing waste and thinks there’s a consumer demand for reliable, local information about how to do a better job of it. But there’s also a bottom line. Effectively sorting garbage from recycling helps processing for both run more smoothly — reducing costs to cities.

"For communities, it costs money to host and manage a local recycling program," Goetsch said. "The more that consumers are correctly recycling and the more that they recycle the correct materials, the lower the cost for the municipality."

Some of Betterbin's clients are the village of Weston, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Edgewood College in Madison. In February, the app will launch in Wausau. 

Anyone can download and use the app to improve their recycling practices, but it tailors its information to which recyclables are accepted in the specific municipalities where it's launched.