Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
Luxembourg Centre for European Law
Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems
CRAB Traceability Systems is a startup emerging from the University of Luxembourg’s circular economy research, building on earlier initiatives CircuRement and Circu Invent. What began as a scientific research of design-for-circularity gradually evolved into a broader ambition to understand what happens to products once they leave consumers’ hands.
Jeff Mangers, founder of CRAB
As founder Dr. Jeff Mangers explains, “CRAB was founded to understand what happens to products after we stop using them, aiming to make resource streams visible, measurable and predictable so we can support better circular strategies and sustainable planning.”
Early feedback from the JUMP programme showed that design consulting alone would not be commercially viable, prompting the team to shift towards real-world waste analysis.
CRAB now develops a mobile AI waste scanner for sorting and recycling facilities, supported by proprietary vision models that recognise over 50 waste categories, from PET bottles and cans to cigarette butts and medication blisters. The team has also created a mobile app that classifies litter through image capture and GPS. “The app generates interactive litter maps for municipalities and citizen-science initiatives,” Jeff notes, with each photo automatically placed on a heatmap showing where and when litter appears.
The technology is being prepared for deployment in Luxembourg, with first commercialisation underway through the Smart City initiative from the Ministry of Economy, in collaboration with Ville de Differdange. According to Jeff, “our solution helps cities optimise cleaning routes, identify hotspots and plan infrastructure more efficiently, while also engaging citizens in a more data-driven approach to urban cleanliness.”
CRAB joined the University of Luxembourg Incubator in July 2024, receiving office space and early guidance. “We had strong initial support from the Incubator team,” Jeff says. “The company later grew independently, but we still collaborate informally through teaching and student projects, and all our current employees are former University of Luxembourg students.”
In June 2025, the startup signed an option on an IP licensing agreement with the University, marking an important step in its development towards becoming a University spin-off. The same year, CRAB was also selected for the prestigious Fit4Start acceleration programme, which will help to further advance the development of technology as well as the commercialisation of the technology. CRAB is looking actively for additional partners and use cases to advance their AI vision detection systems, as well as motivated people willing to join the adventure.
‟ If you are a researcher of the University of Luxembourg and are thinking about starting an adventure by creating your own company, have some discussions with the University of Luxembourg Incubator team, get some further insights about which support exists.”
Founder of CRAB