Resourcify – the digital toolset for waste management and recycling
Country of development/application:
Developed in Germany, applied in at least 6 European countries
Scope of innovation
☐ Office work
☒ Production / Service supply process
Sector-specific
☐ Yes / please, specify sector(s):
☒ No (relevant for all sectors)
Description of the needs
Recycling rates across the European Union as a whole are approximately 50%, but this varies considerably by region and sector, with plastic and electronic waste as low as 41%. This relative paucity of recycling is reflected in the shocking statistic that just 12% of material resources used in the EU in 2016 came from either recycled or recovered materials. Not only does this have significant environmental consequences, it also has economic consequences as the value tied up in waste materials is unused. Indeed, the Royal Statistical Society suggested the value of this waste was over $7 trillion.
Energy efficiency and switching to renewable energy is only half the story towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and meeting the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. It is vital, but would only address 55% of global emissions; other 45% comes from a circular economy. As put by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, “creating a truly sustainable energy transition means factoring the circular economy in at the design stage”. This means products must be designed for “longer life, easy disassembly and recycling”. While it may seem daunting, a circular economy gets to the root of business operations and creates a framework for transitioning towards more sustainable thinking and operations, even in how waste is managed.
The great thing about a circular economy is that it would help in many ways. A circular economy encourages a fundamental reorientation in the way waste is perceived. Rather than viewing it as an extra burden that only costs the business money to dispose of, circularity encourages businesses to see waste as a resource from which value can be extracted. This secures material supply chains and makes them more sustainable and efficient, creates innovative products recovered from these materials and opens new ways to salvage what was once deemed “unusable”, keeping it in the economy rather than a landfill. As production of materials consumes gigantic amounts of energy, we could also save in this area by reusing already existing material. What’s also immense: the emissions while producing these goods. Consequently, we have huge potential in saving millions of tons of CO2 emissions. Therefore, in tandem with renewable energy, a circular economy creates the paradigm shift necessary to achieve net zero goals.
Waste is a resource to be recovered. The waste management industry however is still rather traditional. Not only do they utilize paperwork and faxes in their daily business, but they also rely on networks that have been in place for decades. This can prove to be a challenge for any new player entering the industry. Many companies use outdated systems to manage their waste, which often results in valuable materials failing to be recycled. Clever digital tools can turn this situation around and achieve greater sustainability. The Resourcify tool from the German startup of the same name is designed to put an end to incorrect waste disposal. The app-based cloud platform allows companies to manage their waste disposal situation across various sites.
Description of the solution
Companies spend millions on waste management every year. Waste and recyclables management is a complex task, from collecting, separating, transporting, storing or processing residual materials to managing recycling or disposal service providers.
Automated, digital workflows make recycling more efficient and transparent: businesses can recycle more, reduce costs, and turn valuable waste into marketable and valuable materials. Resourcify is the leading software for waste management optimization, solving the lack of technology in the recycling market, where outdated systems are a real blocker to building the circular economy. It enables any business to achieve zero-waste goals.
Resourcify is a software and recycling platform that helps companies in over six European countries optimize their waste management. With automated, digital workflows that make recycling more efficient and transparent, companies recycle more, reduce costs, and turn waste into valuable materials. Resourcify helps companies achieve full transparency of their waste management and recycling activities, while keeping processes safe and compliant to local regulations. No matter the number of sites, regions, or countries the operations span, Resourcify keeps the customer covered and enables him to connect digitally with recyclers.
The platform consists of various smart components which enable a zero-waste future. Its core is a SaaS solution for waste management, digitizing the process chains from waste producers to disposal companies. The platform enables companies to track their waste streams and recycling rates, leading them towards a circular system. Analyzing their recycling and recovery rates helps identify areas for improvement to reduce the environmental impact of waste and achieve the best possible processing of waste into marketable recyclables. Customers can turn their waste management from a cost center into a profit center by optimizing it. On top, Resourcify offers various operational services, such as creating take-back systems for products, which e.g. in case of the healthcare industry would have been burned instead of recycled.
Resourcify is a digital platform beyond simple waste management. The team behind it has the tools and the expertise to help companies make the transition to a circular economy and to guide them at every step of their journey.
Whether scrap paper, wood, metal, or plastic – companies are given an overview of the waste that is being stored and are sent push notifications by the app when it’s time for the containers to be collected. The developer of the digital waste management tool says that it allows companies to increase their recycling rate by up to 50 percent, while reducing administrative costs. Resourcify is already being implemented by numerous companies, for example retail chains, construction companies, and healthcare providers. It connects companies and recyclers together to make recycling easy, fast and affordable – with one software for all of the customer’s locations, recyclers, containers, and waste streams.
Description of the effect
The cloud-based platform aims to overcome the often-siloed nature of the waste value chain and allow stakeholders to work more effectively together, and ultimately aid society’s transition to a fully circular economy. It’s a sector that Resourcify believes is ripe for digitisation, with the company’s technology stack offering users real-time information to understand and manage their recycling performance. Resourcify has managed to connect approximately 130 recyclers across six European countries.
Resourcify acts as the natural counterpart of any supply chain today. Supply chains optimise the flow of goods and services and Resourcify’s software helps companies manage and optimise the flow of commercial waste through detection and adding transparency on each waste stream.
Furthermore, Resourcify can identify and educate on additional waste recovery potential and improved sorting and collecting practices based on this more transparent overview of the existing waste streams. This unique positioning of Resourcify enables the company to unlock expert knowledge and best practices for existing processes on an industry-wide scale. It also creates the potential for Resourcify to identify new recovery and reuse cases. This means optimised and even new recycling processes that have the potential to decrease waste cost or even generate profits from seeing waste as what it is: valuable secondary raw materials.
Major advantages:
• All data in one place
The platform helps teams stay focused and work together to achieve a shared vision an organisation: zero waste. With a comprehensive overview of all waste management and recycling data, the customer finally has the tools needed to place sustainability at the core of the organization’s strategy.
• Customisable reporting
Advanced and fully customisable analytics allows the organization jump-start building metrics and dashboards, while easily identifying areas of improvement to steer its business towards zero-waste. The platform’s rich analytics helps answering questions, understanding issues, and uncovering opportunities.
• Waste as a resource to be recovered
Resourcify’s Circularity Consultants support customers to easily and effectively redefine their waste management, make informed optimisation decisions and create take-back programmes that will elevate organization’s sustainability strategy and help the business close the loop.
• Recycling performance indicators
Resourcify gives the organization the power to analyse recycling performance indicators and gain an understanding of its efficiency; spot areas for improvement, monitor the environmental impact of the business and place sustainability at the core of its strategy.
• Real-time accounting overview
All the organization’s accounting is in one place, to be analysed with a click of a button. The customer has complete access to costs and revenues without having to run tedious reconstructions of accounts.
• Minimising the cost of waste disposal services
Multiple disposers can be managed through Resourcify – up to one disposer per container – so the customer can take advantage of the best offers for each waste fraction.
• Unlocking the answers hiding in the data
On a daily basis Resourcify produces comprehensible and traceable waste data in real time, to create optimisation proposals for collection frequency, container sizes and better recyclable material prices.
On a daily basis Resourcify produces comprehensible and traceable waste data in real time, to create optimisation proposals for collection frequency, container sizes and better recyclable material prices.
The necessary documentation required by regulation is obtained and stored, to show compliance and guarantee the legally secure disposal of hazardous waste.
Company/companies that developed/implemented/offer the innovation
Resourcify GmbH is a German technology company providing a cloud-platform for digital waste management, with a focus on simplicity, neutrality and sustainability. Founded in 2015, the startup so far managed to raise a total of €9 million.
The company works with some of Europe’s largest companies and recyclers – such as McDonald’s and Bosch – to engage their stakeholders and help meet their recycling responsibilities, helping us all transition to a sustainable and circular economy.
Resourcify is a pioneer in helping companies digitise waste management and recycling. It’s platform gives companies end-to-end control and transparency of their waste management program and access to Resourcify’s network of independent recyclers.
Resourcify GmbH
Address: Schopenstehl 13, 20095 Hamburg, Germany
Email: hello@resourcify.com
Contact form: https://www.resourcify.com/en/contact-us
9. Additional information
Book a demo: schedule a personalised walkthrough with one of our product experts and discover an array of tools and features that directly benefit your business at https://www.resourcify.com/en/book-a-demo.
Resourcify / NOAH22 Conference Zurich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_wpeTEExL0&ab_channel=NOAHConference
In German / Mein Recycling Tutorial: Komplettlösung für digitales Abfallmanagement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC3z_fLOqcg&ab_channel=Resourcify
Resourcify Sustainability Index Report 2023 can be downloaded HERE