TLDR: Cirplus, a German-based circular economy platform, has introduced a new supply chain solution integrating artificial intelligence to significantly enhance efficiency, transparency, and reliability in the recycled plastics market. The platform aims to streamline procurement, improve material management, and accelerate the global transition to a circular economy for plastics.
Hamburg, Germany – October 3, 2025 – Cirplus, a leading European B2B procurement platform for recycled plastics, has unveiled its innovative supply chain platform, featuring a robust artificial intelligence component. This development is set to optimize and enhance efficiency across the entire recycling and material management ecosystem, addressing long-standing inefficiencies in the industry.
The new platform leverages AI to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers of plastic recyclates. The AI component is designed to translate complex procurement needs into detailed specifications, providing real-time matches based on extensive historical transactions and material data. This intelligent system considers crucial factors such as supplier reliability, financial stability, time-to-market, and production capacity, ensuring more precise and efficient transactions. Cirplus plans to expand the application of AI throughout the entire transaction lifecycle, from optimizing sampling and batch-testing to streamlining logistics and financial fulfillment.
Christian Schiller, Founder and CEO of Cirplus, emphasized the transformative potential of AI in the sector. “AI will have its most dramatic impact in ‘connecting the dots where the human brain cannot – or can only do so at a slow pace.’ This is particularly true in scenarios requiring large-scale, fast data processing, which is often the case in inter-company interactions,” Schiller stated. He further highlighted the tangible benefits, noting that “2024 has been our best year yet, with AI contributing to at least 30% of that success.”
The integration of AI is poised to elevate recycled plastics to the status of a reliable commodity, akin to virgin polymers. It will play a crucial role in enhancing recycling processes, improving quality control, and enabling manufacturers to create highly customized designs that effectively incorporate recycled materials. This not only reduces time-to-market but also expands market opportunities, driving innovation and sustainability in the plastics industry.
Founded in 2018 by Christian Schiller and Volkan Bilici, Cirplus has rapidly grown to become Europe’s largest B2B procurement platform for recycled plastics. The company’s mission is to put an end to plastic pollution by facilitating trust and transparency in the market. By aggregating data and standardizing recyclates, Cirplus aims to lower transactional costs and catalyze the industry’s shift away from virgin materials, potentially saving up to 80% of CO² emissions per ton replaced.
Cirplus has already demonstrated significant impact, having raised over €5 million in funding and attracting prominent companies in plastic processing and recycling as customers. By early 2023, the platform had listed a record 4 million tons of plastic material, generated by more than 3,000 registered companies across over 100 countries.
Beyond its technological advancements, Cirplus is a global leader in circular plastic standardization. The company initiated, financed, and published DIN SPEC 91446, recognized as the world’s first standard for high-quality plastic recycling and digitization, along with the follow-up DIN SPEC 91481. This commitment to standardization provides a common language for the industry, fostering greater assurance and avoiding misunderstandings in trading recycled materials.
In recognition of its critical work, Cirplus was named by the German government in 2023 as one of only 20 organizations to advise on the drafting of the National Circular Economy Strategy in Plastics. The company has also received numerous accolades, including the National Standardization Award 2022 for DIN SPEC 91446 and the Green Tech Award 2022 as Best Start-up of the Year.
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This new AI-enhanced platform marks a significant step forward in Cirplus’s ongoing efforts to build the digital infrastructure necessary for a physical transition from new to recycled materials, reinforcing its position at the forefront of the plastic waste recycling revolution.
