“Hopeless” cases get a second chance
Grigorij Wagner of rub Berlin GmbH, a company that specialises in recycling, the environment and biotechnology, uses residual materials, which would otherwise drop out of the raw material cycle, for innovative products. For example, rub Berlin GmbH develops high-quality decking boards and railway sleepers made of recycled plastic.
How to generate an added value out of waste
Where others see garbage, Grigorij Wagner sees gold. At least in a metaphorical sense; with his company rub Berlin GmbH, which specialises in recycling, the environment and biotechnology, he focuses on the production of new and high-quality products out of all types of residual materials.
“We specialise in materials and plastics that cannot be reutilised properly: mixed plastic waste, dirty waste and things that many would consider useless,” says Wagner.
From these raw materials, which are difficult to reutilise, he makes, for example, UV-resistant and water-repellent decking boards. At some point, he hopes, the hollow decking boards will also be used to generate energy through heat exchangers.
Robust railway sleepers can also be made out of residual materials; to this end a hollow plastic piece is filled with concrete: “In this case, we combine the advantages of a concrete sleeper with the ones of a plastic sleeper, namely high durability and reduced noise emissions.” This is particularly important for railway tracks in conurbations.
Wagner patents his inventions and he thinks that he is far away from reaching the limits of his creativity. He only wants one thing from politicians: a simplification of the process of applying for financial assistance so that small companies with a low number of employees can apply more easily. Brandenburg provides him with a perfect environment for creative product concepts: “The research potential that we have here in the region, and, of course, the well-trained people hold a huge potential especially for the state of Brandenburg,” says Wagner.