redefining The marketplace waste
Over the past seven years, Excess Materials Exchange has grown and evolved out of one man’s desire to make a difference. From material passports to AI, Owner & Founder Christian van Maaren explains how his ‘dating site for waste’ is helping draw attention to a systemic problem. Report by Imogen Ward.
While working in the oil and gas industry, Owner & Founder Christian van Maaren was inspired to be the change the industry needed.
“I have always wanted to use my skills for good, and I had this notion that I could change the industry from the inside out,” said Mr van Maaren. “While given the opportunity to manage green infrastructure programmes for a major oil and gas company, I was introduced to organisations such as the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Resource Institute. They opened my eyes to the idea of circular economy.”
Inspired by the concept of circular economy, and following significant cutbacks to the programmes he was involved with, Mr van Maaren decided to take a leap of faith and branch out on his own.
Excess Materials Exchange (EME) was established in 2017, initially as a digital marketplace for secondary materials, before quickly pivoting to become more of a ‘dating site for
waste’ that matches one company’s waste with another in need of materials.
Of course, a site like that needs more than just the materials to make it work. Over the past seven years, the brains behind EME have been developing the tools and services needed to get the marketplace off the ground.
Creating a digital footprint
With so little information out there surrounding industry-wide waste production, EME set to work developing its own material passports.
“Each stream on our platform is given a unique identity containing information that enables us to connect them with high-value index users,” explained Mr van Maaren. “It’s all based on the very simple concept that what is unknown is unloved. We are removing the anonymity surrounding these streams to enable them to reach their full potential.”
These passports can also be linked to track-and-trace devices to keep tabs on stock levels and locations. They have also made it easier for the company to implement environmental and social impact assessments.
Although these passports proved to be beneficial, EME soon realised that this addition could act as a potential administrative burden for its customers. To overcome this dilemma, EME made some crucial adjustments and began to explore the benefits of AI.
“The passports were available from day one, but to implement them, we required a
lot of information from our users,” said Mr van Maaren. “So, we reduced the number of mandatory fields from 160 to three, and now we only require a title, description and image.
“We also utilise AI and machine learning to make the entire process easier on the user. The software takes all our data and uses it as a foundation to find new solutions for these material streams, while also helping other users locate their desired streams.”
In addition to this, EME relies on an AI assisted matchmaking tool to generate next user recommendations for companies offering out waste.
To keep materials moving and prevent stagnation, EME also has an auction process in place. This has helped take the uncertainty out of the matchmaking process by placing a timeframe on getting materials sold.
Inspired solutions
Surprisingly, the development of EME has led to some rather unusual collaborations over the years, some which may never had occurred without the help of the online marketplace.
“We always describe ourselves as industry agnostic, so in theory there are no limits to what we can offer,” said Mr van Maaren. “We have found that by connecting different industries and sectors with each other, we have located more creative matches – ones that often add a lot more value to the materials.”
One such example, involved ProRail, the company responsible for the construction,
maintenance and management of the Dutch rail network. According to Mr van Maaren, rail upgrades and maintenance often lead to old rail tracks being scrapped. By offering up these used tracks on the marketplace, EME was able to match the waste with an architect who used it to design a bicycle storage facility for a nearby train station.
“We also worked with a pharmaceutical company that had been using eggs to create flu vaccines,” explained Mr van Maaren. “They had previously been landfilling the eggs and turned to us to find a better solution. We ran it through our platform and found that elements of the waste could be used during the production of cement. They can also be used to manufacture carpets, or as a replacement for hydrocarbons in the
production of plastic. So, the company went from spending half a million pounds a year on disposal fees, to generating around £200,000 a year in revenue.”
Circularity in action
These projects are perfect examples of the ways that EME is helping encourage a more circular economy. Mr van Maaren also regularly attends events to help spread the message. And so far, it seems to be working.
“More and more, I am finding I no longer have to explain to people what the circular economy is and what we’re trying to achieve,” commented Mr van Maaren. “On top of that, companies are beginning to ask the deeper questions, and that is a clear sign that the industry is maturing. Circular economy is no longer a novel thing; it’s now becoming deeply rooted into people’s operations and ambitions.
“Despite this progress, there is still a way to go. To make circular economy work, we need roughly 50 per cent of the global workforce involved in some shape or form; currently only 10 per cent are actively involved.”
The restrictions that come with legislations and laws are another hurdle that EME is having to overcome. Although it is working alongside government heads and policy-
makers throughout Europe and the Middle East, EME believes more needs to be done to encourage change. According to Mr van Maaren, these rules are slowing down the transition to a more circular economy, and if the world wants to meet the Paris Agreement, then these policies need to adapt.
When it comes to the future, EME will continue to advance its offering, while keeping transaction costs to a minimum. Already taking advantage of blockchain to track supply chains, EME believes this is the prime way of keeping costs low and making the business more scalable. It also helps provide quality assurance and control.
“In the past, we felt like a band playing at the wrong party,” said Mr van Maaren, in conclusion. “We had a good tune, but the music just wasn’t appreciated. Now, things are beginning to change. We have gathered a lot more data, which is helping to further enhance our AI models and improve our entire system.
“Of course, there’s still a lot of handholding involved, but I hope, at some point in the not-so-distant future, we will be able to siphon more work out to the machines, to better focus our energy where humans are really needed. That would help us get incredible scale.” n
