Best Startups in Critical Raw Materials & Automated Disassembly

Which startups are solving Europe’s two key circular economy challenges: automated disassembly and critical raw materials recovery? This episode covers the Circular Technology Award, launched by Circular Republic and Knorr-Bremse, to back startups working in both fields. Matthias Ballweg, co-founder of Circular Republic, and Oliver Klug, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Knorr-Bremse, explain why they created the award, what they learned from the applicants, and why they paired prize money with proof-of-concept partnerships instead of funding alone. What you’ll hear in this episode: • Why automated disassembly is finally viable, and what the robots can now do that they couldn’t five years ago. • How two very different approaches recover critical raw materials in Europe: hydrogen to reclaim rare earth magnets, and low-temperature salts to pull metals from electronic scrap. • What corporates like Knorr-Bremse look for before adopting a startup’s technology. The four winning startups then present what they’ve built: Xavier Kohll from R3 Robotics and Tomaso Manca from Hiro Robotics winners in automated disassembly, Carlo Burkhardt from HyProMag and Fred White from DEScycle winners in critical raw materials recovery. This is the final episode of the IFAT Munich 2026 series, recorded live at the fair.