Congratulating Uwe Küber on 30 years of innovation

On 1 June 1993, Uwe Küber had his first day working in the dispatch department at the company then known as AWU Sortieranlagen Betriebs GmbH. On his second day of work, he was introduced to the car repair workshop at Hultschirner Damm. On his third day on the job, he received an assignment that was to be his companion over the next 30 years at ALBA and Interzero: the construction of a sorting plant. He was largely responsible for building our sorting plants in Berlin, Braunschweig, Walldürn and Marl. His personal passion project is to refine and advance technology and improve sorting quality. This year, we congratulate him on 30 years of service. 

So, Mr Küber, where do we stand right now on the technology front? 

Uwe Küber: We set out to become the market leader. And we achieved that goal. But companies that rest on their laurels find themselves being overtaken in no time at all. Unfortunately, we often can’t patent new technical breakthroughs, so we have to maintain a continuous edge over the competition.

How has sorting changed over the past 30 years?

Uwe Küber: There is really no comparison between today’s sorting plants and the ones that we had back then. Sorting plants used to be horizontal and required many people working by hand. That was hard physical labour. Next came the first automated machines that were not yet freely programmable and later, we moved on to air-jet systems. We are now light-years away from being rubbish collectors and have reached industrial production.

Which areas do you think offer the greatest potential going forward?

Uwe Küber: The developments that are coming now are really interesting and happening even more quickly than they used to. I am convinced that we will continue to evolve into a raw material supplier. Interesting times are ahead. This process includes the jump into global business. I am sad that I will likely be too old to play as active a role then as I do now.

What do we need to make sure that we reach our goals?

Uwe Küber: IPR has repositioned itself and is now in the process of drawing up a strategy. We have to act as a united team across all entities. A team where everyone helps each other, even when things get tough. To make this happen, we need employees who want to join us on our journey. We have to give them our trust and help them to grow.

What do you think your role is in this?

Uwe Küber: I think my responsibility is in actively helping to shape this journey and, where necessary, nudging things in the right direction. 

What are our biggest strengths?

Uwe Küber: Money makes anything possible. The trick is to get the best out of limited resources. It requires ingenuity and optimising ongoing processes. That’s what sets us apart as a company too – that we use our capital prudently. We do everything as an integrated unit: build, maintain and operate. What’s more, our plant in Marl is now three years old and the first plant to sort the material from the collection sacks/bins using a fully automated process. Our competitors have come nowhere near this level to this day.

What experience was a particular teaching moment for you?

Uwe Küber: One moment that hit very close to home was the fire that destroyed our plant in Marl in on the night of 24 April 2019. So much work went up in flames all at once. People thought it would take two and a half years to get the plant back up and running again. I told my colleagues: “In December, the plant is up and running again.” Over the next eight months, we worked to the max and made it happen. Operation of the plant could be resumed on 1 January 2020. Anything is possible when a team works in a close, collaborative and structured way. Over the last 30 years, I have had the good fortune to work in excellent teams. We have always worked together in a forward-looking manner and enjoyed what we were doing.

What does sustainability mean to you personally?

Uwe Küber: As a technician, sustainability is very close to our hearts. The issue of maintenance is extremely important to plant operation. Before I make a product available for consumption, I have to think about what its second or third life might look like. The same is true when building plants. We don’t want to build something to last for a short period of time. Instead, we think about maintenance right from the outset. Keeping a plant running for 20 to 40 years is a great challenge, which we have succeeded in doing well, looking at the example of Eisenhüttenstadt. The same is true for private households. It’s better to repair something than throw it away. We are on the right track in our efforts to advance sustainability, but we still have a long way to go.