Need

A2A, the Seeker for this Innocentive Challenge, is seeking innovative technologies and solution providers capable of improving the technical, environmental, and economic performance of landfill mining.

Particular interest lies in technologies that reduce uncertainty early in the project lifecycle, improve decision-making, and increase confidence that a landfill can be mined safely and profitably before significant investment is made.

The transition towards a circular economy is driving increasing interest in recovering value from legacy landfill sites rather than treating them solely as waste repositories. Landfill Mining (LFM) and Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM) have the potential to recover valuable secondary raw materials, reclaim landfill capacity, reduce environmental liabilities, and create new economic opportunities from previously discarded resources.

While significant technological progress has been made across excavation, separation, and resource recovery, widespread deployment remains limited. Many projects struggle to establish a compelling commercial case due to uncertainty surrounding landfill composition, resource quality and quantity, operational complexity, and fluctuating market values for recovered materials. As a result, many potentially valuable landfill sites remain unexplored or underutilised.

Collaboration Opportunity

This is a Scouting Challenge seeking a partner or supplier to provide systems or expertise to solve A2A’s business challenge; the Solver is invited to submit a written proposal to be evaluated by A2A with the goal of establishing a collaborative partnership.

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on September 11, 2026.

Please review the later Participation Guidance section before submitting a proposal.

- Login or register your interest to start solving! -

Seeker/Eligibility

The A2A Group is the largest Italian multi-utility, at the forefront of territorial services and technological solutions. We design smart and sustainable cities, with respect for the citizens. A2A is at the forefront of energy transition, implementing principles of circular economy in all our activities. With a far-reaching strategic plan, we manage the generation, sale and distribution of electricity and gas, district heating, waste collection and recovery, e-mobility, public lighting, and the integrated water services.

The Challenge is open globally, although A2A has a preference for European solution providers where possible.

Challenge

Background

Landfill Mining (LFM) is the process of excavating waste previously deposited in landfill sites, followed by its treatment, separation, and valorization to recover useful materials and energy. Rather than viewing historic landfill sites solely as environmental liabilities, landfill mining seeks to transform them into "urban mines" capable of supplying secondary raw materials, reducing dependence on virgin resources, and supporting long-term circular economy objectives.

Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM) builds upon traditional landfill mining by integrating advanced technologies throughout the value chain. These may include sophisticated site investigation techniques, digital modelling, automated excavation, sensor-based material identification, advanced separation processes, robotics, AI, and decision-support systems that maximise material recovery while reducing environmental impacts and improving overall project economics.

Although individual technologies have matured considerably, the landfill mining process often remains fragmented. Investigation, excavation, processing, environmental monitoring, and resource recovery are frequently addressed independently, creating inefficiencies and limiting overall project performance. Greater integration between these stages represents a significant opportunity to reduce costs, improve recovery rates, and increase confidence in project feasibility.

The Challenge

A2A is seeking innovative, mature, and commercially-relevant solutions that address one or more stages of the landfill mining and enhanced landfill mining value chain: with particular interest in technologies capable of improving the economic viability of landfill mining projects.

The highest priority is landfill characterisation and resource assessment. A2A is interested in solutions that improve understanding of landfill composition before excavation begins, including technologies capable of identifying material types, estimating resource quantities and values, locating high-value zones, detecting hazardous materials or conditions, and reducing uncertainty during project planning.

In addition to characterisation, A2A welcomes solutions covering excavation and extraction, material identification and sorting, separation and recovery, treatment, refinement and valorization of recovered material fractions, environmental monitoring, and digital decision-support systems. This includes innovative processes that increase the quality, marketability, or economic value of recovered fractions, transforming materials that might otherwise require disposal into commercially valuable secondary products, raw materials, or energy resources.

A2A is also interested in approaches that improve the downstream valorization potential of recovered fractions by enabling better quality characterization and separation. This would allow for recovered materials to transition from waste requiring disposal into higher-value secondary raw materials or feedstocks suitable for industrial reuse.

Technologies spanning multiple stages of the value chain are particularly attractive, as integrated approaches may unlock greater operational efficiencies than standalone solutions.

This is a technology scouting challenge rather than a request for novel research concepts. A2A wishes to identify existing technologies, commercial products, industrial solutions, and emerging innovations that have demonstrated technical maturity and show potential for deployment within future landfill mining projects.

Solution Requirements

A2A is primarily interested in solutions from mature technology providers, organizations, and relevant teams that meet the following must have requirements:

1. Address at least one stage of the landfill mining or enhanced landfill mining value chain:

a. Characterization – including assessment of structure, composition, historical data, risks, recovery potential and project feasibility;

b. Excavation/extraction – including removal of buried waste, management of landfill gas, leachate, and emissions, and operational safety and environmental controls;

c. Separation, treatment, refinement, and valorization – including sorting, separating, and refining of materials, recovery of valuable fractions, and processes that upgrade/transform recovered fractions into commercially-valuable secondary raw materials, feedstocks, products, or energy resources.

2. Demonstrate clear relevance to improving the technical, environmental, or economic performance of landfill mining projects.

3. Provide as much technical information as possible, including descriptions of the technology, deployment status, and operating principles.

a. Including evidence of commercial deployment, pilot projects, industrial references, or relevant case studies where available.

b. Include quantitative performance metrics and financial KPIs wherever possible, such as recovery rates, processing costs, operational efficiencies, NPV, IRR, payback period, throughput, or environmental performance.

4. Demonstrate the ability to process heterogeneous, aged, or degraded landfill materials under realistic operating conditions.

5. Show potential for industrial-scale deployment and integration into existing waste management operations.

6. Explain how the solution contributes to one or more of the following:

a. Reducing uncertainty during landfill investigation and planning;

b. Increasing recovery of valuable materials;

c. Reducing excavation, separation, or processing costs;

d. Improving overall project economics;

e. Reducing environmental impacts, including emissions, dust, landfill gas, or leachate;

f. Improving operational safety or decision-making.

Additionally, A2A are also interested in solutions that display the following nice-to-have characteristics:

1. Integrate multiple stages of the landfill mining value chain within a single platform or workflow.
2. Combine advanced sensing, AI, digital twins, modelling, or decision-support capabilities with physical landfill operations.
3. Enable rapid, accurate, and cost-effective landfill characterisation prior to excavation.
4. Demonstrate significant improvements in project economics through reduced uncertainty, higher resource recovery, or lower operating costs.
5. Can be adapted across different landfill types, waste compositions, and geographic regions.
6. Offer modular or scalable deployment suitable for progressive implementation.
7. Support broader circular economy objectives through improved recovery of secondary raw materials, resource efficiency, and environmental remediation.
8. Demonstrate innovative processes or technologies that enhance the valorization of sorted material fractions, converting recovered waste streams into higher-value products, secondary raw materials, industrial feedstocks, or other commercially viable outputs.

Solutions with a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) between 5-9 are invited.

Your Submission

Please login and register your interest, to complete the submission form. The submitted proposals must be written in English and can include:

1. Participation type – you will first be asked to inform us how you are participating in this challenge, as a Solver (Individual) or Solver (Organization).
2. Solution Level - the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of your solution.
3. Please indicate which stage(s) of the landfill mining value chain your solution addresses: Characterization; Excavation/Extraction; Separation, treatment, and valorization; Integrated.
4. Partnering – there will be an opportunity to partner at the conclusion of this Challenge. Please confirm that partnering is possible for you.
5. Problem & Opportunity - highlight the innovation in your approach to the problem, its point of difference, and the specific advantages/benefits this brings (up to 500 words).
6. Solution Overview - detail the features of your solution and how they address the SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS (500 words, there is space to add more in the summary field, and attach supporting data, diagrams, etc).
7. Solution Feasibility – Supporting Information and Rationale, such as references and precedents, that will help A2A evaluate and validate the feasibility of the solution. Include any details around its cost, and its usability/functionality by non-experts (up to 500 words).
8. Experience - Expertise, use cases and skills you or your organization have in relation to your proposed solution. (up to 500 words).
9. Solution Risks - any risks you see with your solution and how you would plan for this (up to 500 words).
10. Online References - provide links to any publications, articles or press releases of relevance (up to 500 words).
11. Attachments - include any relevant additional documentation.

Rules

This Scouting Challenge has the following features:

1. A2A will evaluate your submission to determine their interest to contact you for further business and collaboration discussions.
2. If further contact is requested, you can negotiate the terms of the contract (including scope of work, tasks and duration) directly with A2A.
3. The monetary value of any contract will vary depending on the amount of work to be delivered and the agreed upon time frame.
4. A2A may subsequently directly request that certain IP arrangements are agreed should a partnership be pursued.

Participation Guidance

1. Submission Close Date: Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on September 11, 2026.
2. Late submissions: Will not be considered.
3. Submission Maximum: In case of multiple submissions by the same Solver, only 1 submissions – the final submitted – will be considered. Any other submissions will be deleted prior to evaluation.
4. Submission form and attachments: Your submission will be evaluated by the evaluation team first reviewing the information and content you have submitted at the submission form, with attachments used as additional context to your form submission. Submissions relying solely on attachments will receive less attention from the evaluation team.
5. Evaluation notification steps: After the Challenge submission close date, A2A will review and select the winning ideas/solutions according to the timeline in the Challenge header. Everyone who submits a proposal will be notified about the status of their submissions.
6. Use of AI: Please note that any submissions produced solely with generative AI are not of interest.
7. Learn more: Find out more about participation in Innocentive Challenges