Tech.eu writes that the funding comes in the nick of time, as the plastic recycling market faces issues such as high prices, as well as lower quality compared to virgin products, which may pose a threat to our circular green future. The recycling business needs to expand as EU officials are currently discussing on what the minimum recycling content for new products should be, from 25 to 50%.

cirplus' purpose is to offer a digital platform that connects recyclers with manufacturers, helping them secure supply in the long term. Company officials said that the platform is already being used by over 3,000 companies in the plastics manufacturing and recycling industry in more than 100 countries.

We wrote about cirplus back in 2022, when we learned that to combat plastic pollution, cirplus’s digital procurement platform uses software to bring high-quality recycled materials back into the supply chain at a lower transactional cost by using AI-enabled smart matching of supply and demand based on volumes, quality and price. Over time, AI algorithms will predict availability, prices, quality & quantity, providing a reliable recycled plastics commodity index.

cirplus officials plan to use the undisclosed seven-figure funding to continue developing its platform and to expand to other markets.

igus GmbH and WEPA Ventures are among the investors who contributed to the funding round.

According to Christian Schiller, founder, and CEO of Cirplus, "igus, WEPA Ventures, and Cirplus share the vision of completely closing the plastics loop with digitalization. The experience of igus in engineering plastics, coupled with our knowledge of digitalization, is the ideal basis for moving toward a digitalized circular economy across all industries."