Reciclage

What Reciclage does

Reciclage GmbH is a German B2B upcycling manufacturer founded in 2008 by industrial designer Claudia Dürr and headquartered in Alzenau, Bavaria. The company transforms discarded PVC banners, mesh banners, flags, canvas, and exhibition backwalls into handcrafted bags, backpacks, pouches, laptop sleeves, and accessories. Its core technology is manual upcycling manufacturing — cleaning, cutting, sewing, and branding of reclaimed materials — executed at the Alzenau workshop by the founder, her two sons (Richard and Julian Dürr, who joined in 2020), and two long-term seamstresses, with overflow production routed to the women's prison at Justizvollzugsanstalt Schwäbisch Gmünd as a social-employment partnership.

Reciclage sells exclusively through a direct B2B sales motion initiated via website contact form or email, offering a 5-step project journey from material selection to delivery. Pricing is quote-based with a 50-unit minimum order per product type and a 6–8 week production lead time after material receipt; sample production is priced at 60 EUR net and new-concept design work at 60 EUR net per hour. Customers can supply their own used banners or select from Reciclage's maintained inventory of discarded banner stock. The product catalog spans tote bags (City Shopper), backpacks (Urban Bag, Rolltop Rucksack), accessories (Hip Bag, Kulturbeutel, Etui, Pouch), and specialty items (laptop bags, sleeves, keychains, document folders, bicycle frame bags, saddle covers), all customizable with cotton/woven/PVC labels, hangtags, printed webbing, uniqueness counters, and interior story labels.

The customer base is unusually diversified for a sub-5-person operation, spanning sportswear and fashion brands (Nike, ASICS, New Balance, Fjällräven, Levi's, The North Face), financial services (Deutsche Bank, Frankfurter Sparkasse, LBBW), German federal ministries (BMBF, BMEL), cultural institutions (Berliner Philharmoniker, Messe München, Theater Heidelberg, Historisches Museum Speyer), universities (TU Dresden, TH Aschaffenburg), and telecom (Telekom MMS). Reciclage has won 2nd place in the Landkreis Aschaffenburg Umweltpreis 2024 and earned consecutive nominations (2025, 2026) for the Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis and a 2025 nomination for the PSI Academy Award. The company operates without external funding, has no parent, and is structured as a private GmbH registered in Aschaffenburg.

Name

Reciclage

Legal name

Reciclage GmbH

Website

https://reciclage.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Reciclage GmbH is a German B2B upcycling manufacturer that transforms discarded advertising banners, flags, and exhibition materials into handcrafted bags, backpacks, and accessories for enterprise, government, cultural, and education clients. Founded in 2008 and family-operated from Alzenau, Bavaria.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Upcycled Bags and Accessories

NAICS

Textile Bag and Canvas Mills (314910), Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing (3159), Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors (315210)

SIC

Apparel & Other Finishd Prods Of Fabrics & Similar Matl (2300)

akta.pro primary industry

Backpacks & Travel Bags (CRAAAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Apparel Alterations, Repair & Circular Manufacturing (Remake/Upcycle) (CRAAAAAO), Bag & Accessory Components/Hardware (Straps, Buckles, Zippers) (CRAAAJAJ), Beauty Storage & Organization (Cases, Holders, Travel Bags) (CRABAKAJ), Sports, Outdoor & Adventure Packs Manufacturing (Backpacks/Duffels) (IMAOAHAE)

Keywords

• Upcycled promotional merchandise
• Custom branded bags
• Banner upcycling products
• Sustainable corporate gifts
• Handcrafted recycled accessories

Headquarters

HQ city

Alzenau

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Custom Upcycling Product Sales: Reciclage manufactures bespoke upcycling products (bags, backpacks, accessories) from customers' discarded materials. Customers provide their own used banners/flags or select from the company's existing material inventory, and receive branded, one-of-a-kind products. Pricing is quote-based (min. 50 units per product). Production lead time is 6–8 weeks after material receipt.
2. Sample and Prototype Production: Customers can order sample products made from their own material and branded with their logo for review before committing to full production. Sample production costs 60 EUR net. For custom product concepts not in the catalog, conceptualization and creation is charged at 60 EUR net per hour.
3. Festival and Event Merchandise Sales: Reciclage collaborates with festival organizers (e.g., Traumzeit Festival) to sell upcycled merchandise directly to event visitors, creating an additional revenue stream while closing the sustainability loop for event materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Reciclage manufactures bespoke upcycled bags, backpacks, and accessories (City Shopper, Hip Bag, Urban Bag, Rolltop Rucksack, Kulturbeutel, Etui, Pouch, laptop sleeves, keychains, document folders, etc.) from clients' discarded advertising banners, flags, mesh, and exhibition materials, or from its own inventory of collected banners. Each piece is handcrafted, uniquely patterned, and fully brandable with logos, hangtags, woven labels, uniqueness counters, and origin-story interior labels. Production occurs at the Alzenau workshop and, for larger orders, at the Justizvollzugsanstalt Schwäbisch Gmünd prison sewing workshop.

Product overview

Reciclage is a B2B upcycling company that transforms discarded advertising banners, flags, mesh materials, and other promotional materials into unique, handcrafted products. The company operates a portfolio of core upcycling products including bags (City Shopper, Hip Bag, Urban Bag), accessories (Kulturbeutel, Etui, Pouch), and backpacks (Rolltop Rucksack, Urban Bag). Additional products include laptop sleeves, keychains, document folders, glasses cases, bicycle frame bags, and saddle covers. The offering is organized as made-to-order custom manufacturing with branding options (labels, hang tags, printed webbing) and a uniqueness counter system for limited editions. Products are manufactured at the company's workshop in Alzenau, Germany, with some production in partnership with a correctional facility in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The company also maintains an inventory of existing banner materials for clients without their own materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• City Shopper (upcycled tote bag)

Quantifiable outcome

• 58 kg of PVC banner material processed into products for the Plastic Pirates / BMBF project
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers29 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Justizvollzugsanstalt Schwäbisch GmündcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReciclage partners with the women's prison in Schwäbisch Gmünd for sewing production on larger orders. This social partnership provides vocational training and employment opportunities for incarcerated women, offering them a perspective for their time after prison. The partnership enables Reciclage to scale production capacity for larger orders while fulfilling its social mission.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Freitag: Swiss brand that makes messenger bags and accessories from recycled truck tarpaulins. Closest direct peer to Reciclage: same upcycling-from-industrial-waste-material model, same one-of-a-kind product positioning, same B2B and consumer channels. Differs only in input material (truck tarps vs. event banners).
• Elvis & Kresse: UK-based maker of bags and accessories from decommissioned fire hoses and other reclaimed industrial materials. Direct peer: same upcycling-from-waste-stream model, same premium positioning keyed to material origin storytelling, same B2B and DTC channels.
• Looptworks: US upcycling company turning waste streams (aircraft interiors, wetsuits, banners) into bags and accessories. Direct peer in the 'waste-to-product' category, with similar banner upcycling capability and a comparable B2B branded merchandise offering.
• Mosaika: German upcycling accessories brand turning reclaimed materials into bags and small leather goods. Direct peer in the German upcycling-bag niche with similar handmade positioning and sustainability storytelling.

Broad incumbents

• Ecoalf: Spanish sustainable fashion and accessories brand using recycled materials (PET bottles, fishing nets, tires). Comparable sustainability narrative and B2B corporate-gift channel, but broader product portfolio (apparel, footwear, bags) and standardized recycled materials rather than customer-supplied waste.
• Baggu: US sustainable bag brand (recycled-nylon reusable bags, totes, backpacks). Comparable product category (bags, totes, accessories) and sustainability positioning, but uses standardized recycled materials rather than customer-supplied waste streams and operates at far larger scale through DTC e-commerce.
• ARMEDANGELS: German sustainable fashion brand with circular-economy positioning. Comparable as a German sustainability brand with B2B corporate-gift capability, but apparel-focused rather than bag/upcycling-focused.
• Repurpose: US sustainable bags and tableware brand. Comparable product category (bags, totes, accessories) and sustainability positioning, with established retail distribution — a broader-market peer rather than a custom upcycling specialist.
• LÄSSIG: German family-run sustainable bags and accessories brand. Comparable as a German heritage bag brand with sustainability credentials, but operates at mass retail scale (department stores, online) with conventional materials rather than a custom upcycling model.

Regional players

• Papero Backpacks: German backpack brand making bags from recycled PET and kraft paper. Closest German peer in the 'sustainable backpack' category; operates in the same geography and adjacent product category, though without Reciclage's custom-banner-to-product value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/reciclage

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Reciclage