The role of AI in the circular economy

The transition towards a circular economy in The Netherlands is slowing down. This was one of the conclusions of the recent publication of the ‘New Economy Index’ from MVO Nederland.

Can artificial intelligence (AI) be a gamechanger and speed up the transition towards a circular economy? And in what ways is AI already contributing to less waste streams?

Please join us to discuss these questions on Monday 11 March in SustainaLab (Amsterdam Science Park).

Line up of speakers

• Bernd Ensing (associate professor chemistry at University of Amsterdam). Bernd is director of the AI4Science Lab and will highlight how machine learning algorithms are applied for scientific discovery in a wide range of fields, including the circular economy.
• Julia Krauwer (Sector Banker Technology, Media & Telecom at ABN Amro). December 2023 ABN Amro published a report concluding that ‘generative AI can play a valuable role in the sustainability transition’. Among other things, generative AI can assist in the creation of sustainability reports and be used to design new proteins and materials. Julia will present the main conclusions of this report and will highlight the role of AI in the circular economy.
• Maarten Sukel (PhD at the University of Amsterdam and Machine Learning Engineer at online supermarket Picnic). Maarten launched his book ‘De AI-Revolutie’ in January this year. In this book, he argues that AI will dramatically change society, and that in fact AI already has a huge influence on our daily life. Maarten will share how AI is used by Picnic to fight food waste.
• Jens Zuurbier (Data scientist at Seenons). Jens will showcase where Seenons uses AI to help customers and service partners to zero waste. This ranges from various optimization problems, to using AI to help their users correctly sort their waste, avoid contamination or increase reuse of materials.

 

Practical information 

Monday 11th of March, 15:00 – 16:30, drinks afterwards
SustainaLab, Matrix ONE building, Amsterdam Science Park 301

Contact

Bart Krull
06 41 83 89 41

Meer weten over SustainaLab

SustainaLab is een ecosysteem gericht op het versnellen van de transitie naar een duurzame samenleving. SustainaLab is gevestigd op Amsterdam Science Park en verbindt UvA-onderzoekers en UvA studenten met bedrijven en overheden. Tijdens de Week van de Circulaire Economie 2024 staan er events rond circulaire chemie en de relatie tussen AI en circulariteit op de planning.