World Environment Day: Our Greentech Unit presents pioneering startups that make life a little better every day

Today is World Environment Day. The day, which was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on June 5th, 1972, is becoming increasingly relevant. After all, protecting the environment and climate are among our most important tasks today. Green technologies are helping to shape a future worth living.

Official logo of the World Environment Day Foundation

Since 2009, PIABO has been working to raise the visibility of these green technologies and sustainable solutions. To pool the expertise we have built up over the years, the agency launched its own Greentech department in 2020. Innovative technologies and solutions that help protect the environment and climate deserve visibility and attention. The list of pioneering entrepreneurs is long, and we would like to introduce a few of them:

SPRK.global: The Berlin-based impact start-up aims to do nothing less than redistribute the food surpluses that occur within the supply chain and significantly reduce them in the long term. After all, global food waste is responsible for 8 to 10 percent of all human-made greenhouse gases. Using AI-supported distribution technology, food surpluses are identified and redistributed. In the long term they are reduced via pattern recognition. This protects resources and the climate at the same time. Founder Alex Piutti is convinced that by 2030 global food surpluses can be reduced by 20 percent, which corresponds to approximately 500 million tons of CO2.

VYTAL: It's hard to imagine our everyday lives without takeaway food and coffee to go. But we often forget the amounts of waste they generate. After only a short time, the packaging becomes waste. The start-up VYTAL wants to put an end to this waste of resources. With its reusable packaging for rent, VYTAL offers consumers, restaurateurs, canteen operators and Co. an environmentally friendly alternative. The containers can be rented and returned via an app. Recup has developed a similar Germany-wide returnable deposit system for coffee cups. There is also support for the solutions from the German government with its decision on the Packaging Act and the "reusable obligation" from May 2021.

Envision Digital: Electromobility is an essential building block toward more climate-friendly mobility and for livable cities where it's easy to breathe again. To get more people to switch, driving an electric car must be as easy as possible. That, at least, is the approach of the company Envision Digital. Therefore they have developed a charging solution that combines a charging box, installation and green electricity tariff in one. The icing on the cake: connected to the Internet, the charging box can be integrated into the smart building via Artifical Intelligence of Things (AIoT). The overriding goal: climate neutrality through efficient energy management worldwide.

Klarsolar: When it comes to environmental protection, the way to renewable energies is not far. What could be more natural than harnessing the power of the earth through wind and sun? This is where Klarsolar enters the picture as a full-service provider of photovoltaic systems. There are still hundreds of thousands of roofs that are suitable for harnessing the free energy of the sun. For this, the installation must be as simple as possible and the costs as transparent as possible. Using the Klarsolar configurator, a solar installation can be planned in just five minutes - time in which you would otherwise be making your coffee.

Klim.: Agriculture depends on a functioning ecosystem. At the same time, agribusiness causes gigatons of climate-damaging CO2. The brains behind the start-up Klim. want to turn the tables and make agriculture part of the solution by storing CO2 in the soil. In order to establish so-called "carbon farming," Klim. is targeting farmers with an app and providing all the information needed to switch to regenerative methods. Food produced in this way is given a label. Consumers should be able to recognize climate-positive foods via the label and be encouraged to contribute to climate protection and the transition to regenerative agriculture with their purchase.

refurbed: Thousands of disused smartphones, laptops or other electronic devices are lying dormant in our drawers and cupboards. But only a few devices are broken. Refurbed responds to this and has created an online marketplace for refurbished products in the entire DACH region. On the platform, retailers and customers can offer and buy refurbished electronic products such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, but also kitchen appliances, household appliances or e-bikes. Remanufacturing not only protects valuable resources, but also closes the loop for products and preserves their value.

momox: Everyone cleans out their cupboards and drawers from time to time.  But the question is where to put all the stuff? Second-hand pioneer momox offers an uncomplicated and sustainable alternative to throwing away used items. Since 2004, the company is already in the business of giving second-hand items a second life. Through its apps and website, the company buys discarded clothing, books and media items from private individuals and resells them through its online stores medimops.de and momoxfashion.com.

gridX: Energy transition is one of the most important challenges of our time and at the same time the key to a climate-friendly future. Currently, the power grid is not yet optimally designed for the energy supply with green electricity. gridX wants to solve this problem with the digital energy platform XENON, which controls, connects and stores decentralized energy resources. In this way, gridX ensures security of supply and intelligent energy use.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact Tilo Bonow, CEO of PIABO, or Andreas Krönke, Unit Director Technology. They look forward to hearing from you.