HomeNewsRevolutionizing Waste Management with Akanthas

Revolutionizing Waste Management with Akanthas

Why is the work of French innovators Akanthas so important? Well, it all goes back to that old quote “what isn’t measured doesn’t change”. While businesses have spent decades meticulously tracking water, electricity, and fuel consumption to drive efficiency, one critical area has remained largely in the dark: waste management.

Currently, 88% of all waste is generated by professional activities. Despite this, the sector is plagued by inefficiencies: 8 out of 10 waste trucks return either too full or too empty, and more than half of industrial waste is never recycled due to poor traceability and contamination.

Enter Akanthas, a pioneering Greentech company transforming waste from a costly burden into a valuable resource through Artificial Intelligence and real-time data analysis.

The Urgent Need for Precision: Insights from the EU’s 2025 Waste Study

Recent research from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) underscores the urgency of the Akanthas mission. The study reveals that while the EU leads globally, its waste management currently only reduces annual greenhouse gas emissions by a mere 1%, largely because high-impact materials like plastics, textiles, and biowaste are frequently “misallocated” into mixed waste bins.

With nearly 50% of potential recyclables lost to improper sorting at the source, the EU faces a staggering €136 billion annual societal cost for waste management. The JRC concludes that achieving a truly circular economy—and meeting the EU’s ambitious 2035 recycling targets—depends entirely on improving collection and sorting accuracy.

Overcoming the “Recycling Gap”

The scale of the challenge is further emphasized by a November 2025 report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA), which warns that only nine EU countries are currently on track to meet their 2025 recycling targets.

The audit highlights a “frail recycling industry” struggling with insufficient monitoring and a lack of demand for recycled materials—particularly plastics, which account for 10% of municipal waste.

A major barrier identified is the lack of high-quality, pre-sorted material; currently, low-quality waste forces some operators to transport recyclables over 900km to find viable processing plants, drastically increasing CO2 emissions.

By automating waste characterization and ensuring high-quality sorting at the source, Akanthas directly addresses the “viability problem” cited by the ECA.

The Hidden Costs of Traditional Waste Management

For both waste generators (construction and manufacturing) and waste operators (sorting centers and disposal sites), the lack of visibility creates a massive financial and environmental drain:

Generators: Face a 50% loss in potential revenue due to poor sorting and overpayment for collections.
Operators: Suffer from 30% higher operating costs due to inefficient logistics.
The Planet: Inefficient waste transport and low recovery rates contribute to 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually in France alone.

The Akanthas Solution: Optical Sensors Meet AI

Akanthas has developed a “waste meter”—a combination of high-level optical sensor technology and an intuitive software platform. This digital solution automates the characterization of waste at the source, providing objective performance indicators (KPIs) that were previously impossible to track.

How It Works: A 3-Step Integration

Framing & Installation: Smart cameras are installed on-site to monitor skips, cells, and containers.
Continuous Monitoring: The AI captures images and data in real-time, measuring fill levels, weight, volume, and—crucially—sorting errors.
Automated Management: The platform generates sorting certificates and triggers removal requests automatically when thresholds are met.

Privacy Note: The Akanthas system is fully GDPR compliant, automatically masking goods and people to ensure data security while focusing solely on waste characterization.

Solutions Tailored for Your Industry

1. For Industrialists and Builders

Managing a construction site or a manufacturing plant requires precision. Akanthas helps you:

Pay the Right Price: Use indisputable data to ensure you only pay for the waste actually collected.
Optimize Sorting: Identify contamination early to improve recycling rates and comply with the AGEC law.
Improve Safety: Ensure waste is disposed of at the right time to maintain a clear and secure work environment.

2. For Waste Management Operators

Efficiency is the difference between profit and loss in waste logistics. Akanthas enables you to:

Eliminate Empty Runs: Plan pickups based on actual fill levels rather than schedules.
Quality Control: Automatically detect “unwanted waste” before it reaches the sorting center.
Customer Loyalty: Offer transparent, data-driven reporting to your clients, positioning your brand as a leader in the circular economy.

The Bottom Line: Efficiency and Sustainability

Implementing Akanthas requires no upfront investment and delivers immediate, measurable results. On average, clients see:

10% reduction in annual operating costs.
10% reduction in CO2 emissions.
100% optimization of collection services.

Meet the Experts

Led by Viviana Contreras (CEO), a PhD in Environmental Engineering, and Nicolas Jaouen (CTO), a PhD in AI and numerical simulation, the Akanthas team combines deep industrial expertise with cutting-edge digital innovation. Their mission is clear: to digitize waste production and enable the recovery of 100% of professional waste.

Ready to Optimize Your Waste Strategy?

Stop guessing and start measuring. Whether you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint, comply with evolving regulations, or simply slash your operational overhead, Akanthas provides the tools to regain control of your waste streams.

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