plan A Networks
Stuttgart

Construction waste, i.e. road construction waste, soil, stones and construction site waste, accounts for more than half of the waste in Germany. When the recycler arrives, he decides whether the material has to be sent to the landfill or can be recycled – and has only a very rough idea of what is actually arriving at his premises.

MAX GERKEN is the co-founder of OPTOCYCLE. The Tübingen-based start-up is creating transparency: cameras scan and artificial intelligence analyses the material in real time, enabling it to be recycled more efficiently. Optocycle is already in use at several recycling centres, and the AI is learning to differentiate more and more precisely. The technology was originally developed for supermarket checkouts, where the system is designed to recognise exactly what the cashier is scanning.

Less waste – more raw material. An evening about entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurship and new perspectives in times of upheaval.