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Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Entrepreneur
Waste Not, Want Tech
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur United Kingdom, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. In the tech world, 'waste' rarely makes the shortlist of blue-chip market opportunities. But for Mikela Druckman, co-founder and CEO of Greyparrot, a clean-tech company using artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionise waste sorting and recycling, the status quo was a glaring omission. "Depth over breadth has been hugely important for us. From day one, we made a deliberate decision to focus on the waste industry - an under-digitised sector with massive environmental and economic impact." The bet on waste paid off - and fast. By focusing tightly on what she calls "deep domain expertise in waste analytics," Greyparrot turned ignorance into insight and insight into impact. The power of focus Rather than spreading thin, Greyparrot doubled down on a single sector and on one type of technology. "A big early bet was our approach to hardware. While we do deploy hardware to gather data, we made a conscious decision not to build robotic arms or complex recycling plant machinery ourselves." Their team built software that works with existing hardware in recycling plants - from Bollegraaf to Van Dyk - enabling rapid scale without reinventing industrial infrastructure. "That choice set us apart. It allowed us to scale faster, stay agile, and focus on what we do best: building industry-leading AI models, data infrastructure, and integrations that work across any plant setup. We recognised early on that access to large-scale, high-quality data would be one of the most valuable assets we could build - and that's become a core strength." Building with partners Greyparrot's growth model rests on collaboration. By partnering with established players the company expanded from day one - globally. "Greyparrot is an AI and data software specialist, and we partner with the best in the business when it comes to plant builders, robotics, and system integration." These alliances were strategic turbochargers. Together with Bollegraaf and Van Dyk, Greyparrot deployed its systems across 20 countries, analysing tens of billions of waste objects annually. "Today, we're proud to be a global clean tech leader." Reframing waste as gold The world's fastest-growing consumer goods sector was generating almost no intelligence, and Druckman turned that ignorance into opportunity with hard metrics: "In one instance, a single contamination alert from our system saved a European facility £47,000 in reprocessing costs and fines. In another, our AI identified an aluminium sorting issue in minutes - saving £48,000 on a single batch of material." Those case studies became proof. And with packaging under regulatory pressure, Greyparrot's ability to trace material flow upstream - into manufacturing - unlocked a new narrative: "We're helping brands understand the downstream consequences of their packaging design decisions… Insights don't just enhance recycling - they directly inform packaging design, support regulatory compliance, and accelerate progress toward circularity goals." Greyparrot's Deepnest platform takes consumer goods companies into live-feedback mode. Instead of theoretical recyclability, they can now see what happens to packaging post-consumption - data that could prompt rapid design shifts. Eyes wide open When AI meets real-world complexity, blind spots reveal themselves. Greyparrot found wasted money hiding in unexpected places: "I was surprised by the scale of invisible inefficiencies…Over the last year alone, our systems detected and categorised over 40bn waste objects into 111 categories, revealing massive shifts in quality and contamination over the course of a single day." Packing shrink sleeves and resistant materials like Tetra Pak - designed without recycling in mind - became tangible examples of downstream effects. "Take Lucozade bottles - their full plastic shrink sleeve meant that they weren't being recognised by recycling machinery, so they spent £6m to redesign more sustainable products." With real-time data, companies can emerge with 10–20% recovery gains in a single shift. Opportunities in the $3tn waste sector Waste's disruptability is debated, but Druckman points to three major shifts driving this opportunity: 1. Smarter hardware integration, with AI embedded into the sorting process. 2. AI retrofits for legacy plants, offering high ROI without new infrastructure. 3. Emerging data-driven compliance, led through platforms like Deepnest - connecting material flow to brand decisions. "Analysing 15 tonnes of waste typically takes a trained staff member around 375 hours. With AI, it takes six." For entrepreneurs, this suggests embedding your tech, retrofitting old systems, or influencing upstream incentives - while leaving physical assets in place. The reality check Greyparrot's success isn't a fairy tale. The company has survived pandemics, downturns, and hyper-cautious fundraising environments. "One of the biggest lessons that's shaped how we've built Greyparrot is the importance of resilience - not just in the technology, but in the business itself." Steady growth and autonomy in her team proved that momentum didn't rely on a singular figure. "During my second maternity leave, the team not only kept things running - they delivered growth in both headcount and revenue." That's not just good leadership; it's a replicable organisational structure fit for start-ups scaling globally. A circular future Looking ahead, Druckman sees AI as the operating system for recycling plants, but the bigger play lies elsewhere: "AI is laying the foundation for circular decision-making. Data from waste is now flowing upstream to inform how products are designed, tested, and improved - closing the loop between packaging innovation and recyclability." Plants are just the beginning. The next layer is connecting recycling feedback to packaging, design, and supply chains. "Entrepreneurs will play a huge role in scaling this transformation, and that's what we're doing with Deepnest." By rethinking rubbish, Greyparrot shows how innovation can recycle old problems into new possibilities - a truly circular success story.
Travel Weekly
an hour ago
- Travel Weekly
Following other cities, Cannes will begin 'regulating, organizing' cruise calls
PARIS (AP) -- The French Riviera resort of Cannes is imposing what its city council calls "drastic regulation" on cruise ships, halving the number of very large ships allowed in its harbor and capping the daily number of passenger visits at 6,000 starting next year. The city is joining a growing global backlash against overtourism, which recently saw uproar over Jeff Bezos' and Lauren Sanchez' Venice wedding, water-gun protests in Spain and a surprise strike at the Louvre Museum. "Less numerous, less big, less polluting and more esthetic" -- that's the aim of Cannes city councilors who voted June 27 to introduce new limits on cruise ships in its ports. The aim is to ban all ships carrying more than 1,300 people by 2030, city hall said in a statement. Starting next year, a maximum of 6,000 cruise passengers will be allowed to disembark per day, and the number of ships carrying more than 5,000 passengers will be cut by 48% in 2026. Larger ships will be expected to transfer passengers to smaller boats to enter Cannes. France, which drew in some 100 million visitors last year, more than any other European country and more than the country's population, is on the front line of efforts to balance economic benefits of tourism with environmental concerns while managing ever-growing crowds. "Cannes has become a major cruise ship destination, with real economic benefits. It's not about banning cruise ships but about regulating, organizing, setting guidelines for their navigation," mayor David Lisnard said in a statement. Cruise operators have called such restrictions damaging for destinations and for passengers. Two cruise ships were scheduled to dock in Cannes on June 29, each bigger than the upcoming 1,300-passenger limit and with a combined capacity of more than 7,000 people. Their owners did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new restrictions. The nearby Mediterranean city of Nice announced limits on cruise ships earlier this year, as have some other European cities. Others are implementing additional taxes on ships. This report was published by the Associated Press.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Julien Houdebine named Accor chief sales officer
This story was originally published on Hotel Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Hotel Dive newsletter. Julien Houdebine has been appointed global chief sales and revenue management officer at Accor, the company shared with Hotel Dive. Accor's previous chief sales officer, Sophie Hulgard, posted on LinkedIn that she was departing the company due to 'another 're-ing.'' An Accor spokesperson said the company is not undergoing a reorg, but rather a 'regular evolution of the operating model' that is 'part of an ongoing effort to strengthen alignment and coordination across Accor's central and regional divisions.' During her tenure at Accor, Hulgard spearheaded the launch of the company's Global Leadership Council, a collective of travel buyers who meet regularly to discuss shifting traveler expectations, B2B-focused loyalty, distribution and more. On LinkedIn, Hulgard said her time with Accor 'was 5 incredible years in many ways and I am very grateful.' In 2022, Accor announced plans to separate its brands into a premium, midscale and economy division and a luxury and lifestyle division. That reorganization went into effect in early 2023. Prior to joining Accor this year, Houbedine was director of commercial marketing and client experience at French healthcare company Colisée, according to his LinkedIn. He previously held leadership roles at aviation companies Corsair International and Air France. Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin spoke about the company's growth plans at this year's NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum, pointing to future expansion in India and the ultra-luxury segment. Recommended Reading Choice Hotels expands upscale portfolio with Westgate partnership Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
