Waste is one of the big problems of our time, but even with the most careful use of resources, waste cannot be completely avoided. This makes it all the more important to take advantage of all opportunities for recycling. A number of Hamburg-based startups have taken up this issue, with success: recyclehero, for example, recently closed a seven-figure financing round (we reported). In this article, we present three other startups that have made recycling their business model in different ways.
Resourcify optimizes waste management for companies
Waste separation now takes place in every private household and certainly helps to improve recycling cycles. However, companies can contribute on a large scale if they optimize their waste management. This is exactly what the Hamburg-based startup Resourcify is doing with its platform. It ensures that recycling becomes more efficient and transparent through automated, digital workflows. Companies can recycle more, reduce costs and turn waste into marketable and valuable materials. Waste management companies can also use Resourcify to improve their customer service and strengthen their sales teams. The concept has already convinced investors several times, and Resourcify has been able to collect around 9 million euros so far.
cirplus is a marketplace for recyclates
There is definitely a great demand for recycled plastic, which will even increase significantly in the coming years. For this purpose, the startup cirplus has created an online marketplace that brings recyclers together with plastic processors. Processors are thus able to find recycled materials in highly fragmented markets. This in turn enables them to manufacture new products with a higher proportion of recycled material, especially in the packaging, automotive and construction industries. The aim of cirplus is to reduce the cost of producing and trading high-quality recyclates and make them competitive with virgin plastic. Here, too, investors have already recognized the potential; cirplus raised 3.3 million euros in December 2021.
Bracenet makes trinkets from fishing nets
In the case of Christian Schiller, the founder of cirplus, a boat trip in the Caribbean, during which he experienced the pollution of the seas first-hand, was the decisive experience that led to the creation of his company. A similar story marks the beginning of the startup Bracenet. During a vacation in Zanzibar, Madeleine von Hohenthal and Benjamin Wenke noticed how badly the beaches there were polluted with old fishing nets. Yet these "ghost nets," as they are also called, can still be used. Upcycling is the name given to the process of turning waste into new, usable objects, and Bracenet has mastered this art particularly well. It produces bracelets and other trinkets, dog leashes, bags and much more from the nets. Numerous marketing campaigns and collaborations with well-known partners from Telekom to the Super Bowl contribute to the brand's success.
