IFAT Munich 2026

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.

People Matthias Ballweg, Co-Founder, Circular Republic https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthias-ballweg/

Oliver Klug, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Knorr-Bremse https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-klug-932650148/

Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/

Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:22 The Circular Technology Award 02:03 Why automated disassembly and critical raw materials 03:56 What the applicant pool showed 05:52 Who is Knorr-Bremse 06:39 Why Knorr-Bremse joined the award 08:07 A proof-of-concept, not just prize money 10:51 R3 Robotics: robotic disassembly 14:09 Hiro Robotics: rethinking electronics disassembly 18:16 Descycle: recovering metals from e-waste 21:53 HyProMag: recycling rare-earth magnets 25:51 Closing and what is next

About IFAT is the world’s leading trade fair network for environmental technologies. It focuses on water, wastewater, waste, recycling and circularity, bringing together companies, innovators and industry professionals to present solutions for resource efficiency and sustainable infrastructure.

IFAT Munich is the flagship event of that network and the most important meeting place for the sector. It takes place every two years in Munich and showcases technologies and services for water, wastewater, waste and raw materials management, with the 2026 edition featuring around 3,400 exhibitors from about 60 countries.

Further Links Knorr-Bremse Circular Technology Award: https://www.circular-republic.org/award/ IFAT: https://ifat.de/en/ Circular Republic: https://www.circular-republic.org UnternehmerTUM: https://www.unternehmertum.de Knorr-Bremse: https://www.knorr-bremse.com/en/

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