In late May, Philly sidewalks typically start to look like a city-wide rummage sale due to students moving.  Everywhere you look, there are enough abandoned Ikea bookcases, sofas, bureaus, and beds to furnish the whole city. Removing discarded furniture is costly and taking it to a landfill creates an environmental hazard. This is why Solo Real Estate is happy to announce we’ve partnered with Rego to make the pickup and donation of unwanted furniture easier, faster, cost-effective, and more sustainable. 

Here’s how it works

Solo tenants can take advantage of significant discounts for furniture pick-ups through the app and Rego will provide receipts for any items accepted by local charities for a tax deduction come tax season next year. Start by visiting Rego’s Solo partner page here and enter your address. Once there, you will be able to access pre-set pick-up days for our tenants. Upload photos of furniture you want to be removed and get a quick quote that will be lower – and take less of your time – than any junk removal service. 

Depending on the condition of your furniture, it will be transported to one of Rego’s charitable, nonprofit partners, including Habitat for Humanity Restore, 2318 Washington Ave., which builds homes for needy families; Philadelphia Furniture Bank, 3650 I Street, which provides furniture for people transitioning from homelessness; and Philly Aids Thrift, 710 S 5^th St, which supports local organizations fighting AIDS.

Since Rego was founded in 2020, it has diverted 90,000 pounds of furniture away from landfills. So far, Rego has been able to recycle 70% of the items it removes. In Philadelphia, mattresses cannot be resold so the remaining 30% accounts for mattresses and other items that are more challenging to recycle but their goal is to continue to increase the percentage of items that are recycled and repurposed.

Rego’s Story

Headquartered in the ICI Building in University City, Rego co-founder Josh Mastromatto traces the evolution of his startup to a series of micro discoveries. “I was a former pro athlete in my twenties when I moved back to Philly to work at Spring EQ, an online mortgage company. It seemed crazy how much trash was on the streets,” he said. “I helped organize neighborhood cleanups with Brandon Castagna, a software engineer at Spring EQ who became a co-founder of Rego. That sparked my passion for sustainability.”

Mastromatto’s passion turned into a determination to revolutionize the furniture disposal industry. “It’s a complex problem. Traditional junk removal wasn’t sufficient. We talked to landfills and waste system companies, trying to build a solution at every step. Our long-term vision is to focus on reuse,” he said.

By September 2022, Rego was aligned with Philly StartUp Leaders which supports the local startup ecosystem. Meanwhile, property managers, including Solo Real Estate, were expressing interest. Rego explained how they could handle residents’ waste and redistribute unwanted furniture, saving property managers time and money by offering a better service than traditional junk removal services. Rego backs up their promise with waste diversion reporting for property managers, documenting their impact from a carbon and landfill standpoint. They also have integrated with resident manager software.

“Solo was the first company I met that is this far ahead of the sustainability curve. They’ve been doing this for decades,” said Mastromatto. “They recognized that Rego offers an environmentally friendly solution. Before anything is picked up, we are able to identify the right re-use and we eliminated the need for a centralized warehouse. Each piece of furniture goes to an appropriate nonprofit. We provide residents and property managers with year-round, easy solutions for hard-to-dispose-of items that cause headaches on moving day.”

Currently, Rego’s services are available throughout Philadelphia and Atlanta. “We want to completely revolutionize the industry. Our big vision is to build the next-generation infrastructure for bulk waste,” said Mastromatto. For more information visit Rego-app.com or contact them directly at 215-770-6989.