In Germany, RecyclingBörse, a member of Re-Use Deutschland, has been working with second-hand goods for decades. This social enterprise manages the small waste electrical appliance stream for around 250,000 residents in Herford.
At the beginning of 2024, RecyclingBörse began developing an app that uses artificial intelligence to recognise small electrical appliances. The idea is to make it easier for people who want to donate items, and for staff in reuse centres to quickly see whether an appliance can be reused, repaired or should be recycled. This helps address a recurring challenge: when experienced staff leave, technical knowledge about products and repair options often leaves with them.
By scanning an item and accessing information about its origin, repairability and potential resale value, staff can sort more accurately and avoid discarding appliances simply because information is missing. The project is being developed by a consortium including a university, a software company, a recycling company, a repair company and a reuse enterprise, with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics. The app is designed to be simple and self‑explanatory so that it can be used by employees with different levels of digital confidence.
Training is organised in a practical, low‑threshold way. Explanatory videos show employees how to use the app, while day‑to‑day work provides real examples to learn from. Staff feed the tool with data by filming short videos, scanning barcodes and adding brief descriptions. In return, the app supports them in assessing the appliances and suggests possible next steps – from preparation for reuse to recycling.
Better information is expected to increase the number of items correctly identified as suitable for reuse, putting more products back into circulation and generating higher revenues from sales. At the same time, the app gives sorting staff support in their daily work and makes decisions more consistent.
Along the way, employees build both basic and more specialised digital skills, from using devices and navigating apps to working with sector‑specific data. RecyclingBörse sees this app as a first step towards further digitalising its customer‑facing services, while continuing to use its current system of photo‑based assessments until the tool is fully developed and widely adopted.
