Tim Lee
Co-Founder & CEO
Tim founded Utilitarian in 2022 after seeing the same gap everywhere: customers handing in old products, and retailers losing them at the counter. No email, no data, no follow-up. Just a box shipped to a recycler.
What followed was two years of deep research — building, piloting, and pressure-testing circular solutions across two continents. Tim worked through the full complexity of digital product passports, extended producer responsibility, and the real-world barriers to adoption that most companies only encounter after launch.
That process led to a critical insight: the industry didn't need more complex technology. It needed a simpler entry point — one that delivered immediate commercial value while generating the data that compliance frameworks demand.
"The missing R in circularity is relationship. My mission is to make the right thing the easy thing — so customers, brands, and the planet all win."
