How This Boston Startup Is Giving Demolition Waste a Second Life
Circa’s three cofounders are using AI to run a lean operation and keep valuable building materials out of landfills.
Circa’s first truck in South Boston.
Before Circa had a truck, cofounder Andrew Costa needed to know whether he could start another company.
Andrew, a veteran demolition operator, had spent years managing crews and clearing sites across Greater Boston. His previous junk-hauling business was governed by a franchise agreement that needed review. His fellow cofounders, Boston real-estate developer Marc Savatsky and construction and technology strategist Shyam Shukla, used Manus to organize questions from the agreement. A lawyer reviewed their notes before they moved forward.
Andrew knew field operations, Marc brought a network in Boston real estate, and Shyam knew how to build companies and the systems behind them. Their priority was to give Andrew what he needed to succeed as the operator.
One truck, then rapid growth
The founders mark Circa’s launch as April 1, 2026. The paperwork followed later that month, and the truck arrived during the second week of May.
Andrew started alone. Within two weeks, Circa hired its first laborer. Another joined the following week. By September, Andrew was working with four laborers and three interns.
The work changed quickly too. The founders expected junk removal to carry the early business, with most jobs coming in below $1,000. Their Boston real-estate network began producing demolition projects instead. Shyam estimated that those jobs could range from $10,000 to $200,000.
By September, Circa reported nearly $100,000 in cumulative revenue and approximately $250,000 in prospective work. The founders were still careful to accept only what the young company could handle.
In October, Circa was accepted into Foundry, Harvard Business School’s program for early-stage founders. The team used Manus to prepare its application. The founders plan to use the program to sharpen their goals as they push toward product-market fit and new markets.
The Circa crew on a Greater Boston demolition site.
Using AI to give a small team more leverage
Shyam first used Manus while preparing The Union, a South Boston coworking space for people in the building industry. He created its website, room-booking system, and member-onboarding workflow with the platform.
The founders carried that approach into Circa. They built and hosted the company’s website on Manus, used it to improve search visibility, prepared grant applications, and created internal tools around the crew’s workflow.
For Shyam, the value of AI comes down to leverage. He said Manus has allowed the team to spend more time on higher-value work.
His point was visible across the company. A remote marketing teammate could produce roughly 50 social posts per week, compared with the five Shyam estimated he could have managed through a conventional workflow. Circa also reported that grant funding covered five internship placements. Instead of limiting interns to basic administration, the company could give them operating problems to solve.
One of the first interns helped improve Waste-Less Vision, Circa’s visual intake system. Customers submit photos or video of a space, and the system identifies materials and prepares a preliminary estimate of disposal costs and labor hours for the team to assess.
A 15-minute basement video might show seven mattresses. Someone previously had to watch the whole recording and count each one. The system can turn that count into a line item for human review.
Site conditions still require field judgment. AI handles the first pass so experienced people can focus on execution.
Shyam had done some coding before but never professionally. Building software around Circa’s own methods gave the company an alternative to forcing its operation into standard route-management products.
“It’s enabled me to feel like I’m doing it at a professional level,” he said.
Finding value in demolition waste
Circa’s operating model serves a larger mission. The company wants to keep useful materials in circulation before they become mixed debris.
Boston produces an estimated 640,000 tons of construction and demolition waste each year, according to the city. That is the equivalent of 26,000 dump trucks of recyclable material, some of which travels to landfills as far away as Alabama.
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Circa separates materials at the job site and looks for a practical next destination. Reusable items can go to another project, while other materials can be grouped for recycling.
Cabinets separated for reuse before disposal.
“We extract materials, we consume materials, and then the materials get wasted because we choose to waste them,” Shyam said. “The idea that that can go on indefinitely is illogical.”
The company’s next test is a system of reusable canvas bags and a crane mounted to its truck. Shyam estimated that a traditional metal roll-off container costs about $5,000, while the bags Circa was sourcing cost roughly $15 each. Crews could separate lumber from drywall as they work, keep the truck fuller, and consolidate deliveries from Circa’s hub.
The model still has to prove itself in daily operations. Circa is already showing what recovered material can become. At the time of the interview, it was working with Boston Building Resources on a shed made entirely from reclaimed materials, including exterior cladding made from old doors.
A reuse pavilion built with reclaimed doors.
Shyam’s longer-term vision is a material bank where useful parts of old buildings can wait for another purpose, with entrepreneurs nearby turning those materials into new products.
Circa is taking that vision one job at a time. Its three cofounders are using technology to keep the company lean while Andrew and the crew do the physical work that makes recovery possible.
“Our mission is to keep materials in the built world,” Shyam said.
Bring Manus to your community
The Union hosts hackathons and other gatherings where builders use Manus to solve problems together. The Manus Fellow Program supports people who want to create similar experiences in their own industries and cities through events, mentoring, and hands-on collaboration.
Editor’s note: Circa’s revenue, pipeline, hiring, pricing, and output figures were self-reported during an interview conducted on September 9, 2026.
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