Waste as a Resource: How Data and AI Cut Recycling Costs

Waste as a Resource: How Data and AI Cut Recycling Costs

From Circularity.fm by Patrick Hypscher

May 12, 2026 · 30 min · Episode 98

About this episode

Benedict von Spankeren discusses how data and AI can enhance profitability and safety in waste management.

What is the value of knowing what's in your waste stream? Wasteer founder Benedict von Spankeren talks about how data and AI improve profitability and prevent dangerous accidents for waste management companies. What you'll hear in this episode: • The economic gap between recycling and waste-to-energy margins, and what this means for market entry and finding customers. • How dynamic pricing changes the business: moving away from flat fees and charging suppliers based on the actual energy value of their waste. • The difficulty of passing on carbon taxes, and why plants now need proof of exactly which supplier delivered what. The episode also discusses the challenge of getting experienced crane operators to actually use new technology on the floor. This is the third episode in "Incineration in the Circular Economy," a series sponsored by NEEW Ventures.

People in this episode

Host: Patrick Hypscher

Guest: Benedict von Spankeren

Topics covered

  • waste management
  • data analytics
  • AI in recycling
  • dynamic pricing
  • circular economy

Keywords

  • waste stream
  • recycling costs
  • profitability
  • carbon taxes
  • crane operators

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wasteer

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