Upcycled Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 843215929
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Columbia, MD, USA
- Rating
- 93
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $49,761
- Expenses
- $94,284
- Assets
- $38,960
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
People named in this filing
- Freddie Striano (Officer)
- Orlando Goncalves (Officer)
- Darryl Pastor (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The primary exempt purpose of Upcycled is to expand community awareness regarding the plastic crisis, encourage recycling through the creation of lumber from recycled plastics, and reduce waste in landfills. The lumber is used to build structures such as garden beds, benches, and picnic tables that are donated to local parks, schools, and community spaces. Upcycled intends to collaborate with the county at the local landfill and/or work with local partners to install additional community collection bins to encourage community members to redirect appropriate waste to Upcycled so that we can transform it. This has the added benefits of redirecting plastic waste from landfills while starting a conversation with the community surrounding the plastic crisis and providing single-use plastic with a long-term purpose.
What it reported doing in 2025
In 2024, Upcycled achieved several key milestones in expanding its impact on sustainability, education, and community engagement. One of the most significant accomplishments was the completion of our recycling facility, which became fully operational after the installation of electricity. This milestone enhances our ability to process and upcycle plastic waste, further advancing our mission to transform discarded materials into valuable community resources. This year, we also successfully completed our internship program, hiring two high school seniors for part-time positions. This opportunity provided hands-on experience in sustainability and workforce development, equipping students with skills in recycling operations and environmental education. The program not only strengthened our engagement with local youth but also reinforced our commitment to fostering the next generation of environmental leaders. Upcycled made significant progress with its Waste to Wonder project, surpassing 8,000 pounds of plastic upcycled, with 3,800 pounds processed in 2024 alone. This initiative continues to drive large-scale waste reduction efforts and provides sustainable materials for community projects, schools, and nonprofit partners. Additionally, 2024 marked the launch of our new afterschool hands-on workshop program in partnership with local schools. Through this initiative, we conducted eight workshop sessions and participated in two community events, engaging students in interactive environmental education and creative upcycling projects. Due to its success, this program will be expanded and continued into 2025, allowing even more students to develop sustainability skills while making a tangible impact in their communities. These accomplishments reflect Upcycled's growth, innovation, and commitment to sustainability education. As we move into 2025, we remain focused on expanding our programs, deepening community partnerships, and furthering our mission to combat plastic waste through hands-on engagement and creative solutions.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -89.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 58.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $95K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.