About this episode

Thierry Sanders shares the origin story of Kolekt, a platform connecting waste collectors and recyclers, highlighting the importance of curiosity in technology development.

Technology isn't magic. But sometimes dropping your spoon in a bowl of soup during a pandemic leads you somewhere extraordinary. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Thierry Sanders, founder of Kolekt, a platform connecting waste collectors, buy-back centres, and recyclers across the Global South. Thierry's background spans fintech, microfinance, and living in developing countries from Ecuador to Pakistan to Indonesia, and Kolekt grew directly out of two weeks spent riding around Bali on a motorbike with informal waste collectors, learning how their world actually works. What makes Kolekt's story unusual is the order of operations. Thierry didn't arrive with a product looking for a market. He started with cigarettes, lunch, and genuine curiosity, and the technology followed the problems he discovered: collectors wasting half their time searching for materials that weren't there, workers without phones or bank accounts locked out of digital systems, and facial recognition tools that didn't work for the people who needed them most. The conversation is direct about the harder edges of this work: the fossil fuel industry flooding markets with cheap virgin…

People in this episode

Host: Barry O'Kane

Guest: Thierry Sanders

Topics covered

• circular economy
• technology
• waste management
• entrepreneurship
• sustainability
• social impact

Keywords

• Kolekt
• waste collectors
• circular economy
• technology
• sustainability
• entrepreneurship
• social impact
• developing countries
• recycling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kolekt, fossil fuel industry, EPR policy

Places: Ecuador, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bali, Jakarta

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