The Raan Group & Ciluna: Transforming Customer Support with AI
The Raan Group is an internationally active, owner-managed group of companies whose subsidiaries are committed to a functioning and modern circular economy in various areas.
About The Raan Group
With Reclay, the Raan Group includes a global service provider in the fields of recycling, environmental management, and waste disposal. Reclay operates take-back systems for various types of waste and is active in the international trade of recyclable materials.
With the help of the online shop Activate by Reclay, you can quickly and easily fulfill your legal obligations. Activate offers you a digital solution that allows you to comply with licensing requirements in just a few minutes, ensuring professional and environmentally friendly disposal and recycling. You have maximum flexibility and can order without any contractual obligations.
RecycleMe complements Reclay's services as an expert organization that supports its international customers with comprehensive consulting and implementation services. RecycleMe's portfolio covers the areas of legislation in the context of extended producer responsibility (EPR), packaging recyclability, and data quality.
With Circular Pro, the Raan Group has launched a new platform to simplify compliance with product and packaging regulations and beyond. Digital services provide companies with simple, fast, and efficient support in meeting international obligations relating to the circular economy, recycling, and extended producer responsibility.
Challenge
Before integrating AI-powered Agent, Reclay’s and Circular Pro’s contact center had significant inefficiencies:
Customer inquiries were handled primarily via email, resulting in average response times of around 24 hours — in some cases, a Friday-afternoon request wasn’t addressed until Monday lunchtime.
The average handling time (AHT) per request was ≈ 15 minutes, and for more complex inquiries sometimes up to 30 minutes.
Although the first-contact resolution (FCR) rate was relatively high — 80–90% — the long handling times reflected a heavy manual workload, slowing down throughput and limiting scalability.
Limited availability: customer service was only available Monday to Friday, 08:00–16:30, hindering support for international clients in different time zones.
The team struggled with repetitive, straightforward queries — e.g. licensing questions, compliance guidance — which consumed considerable human resources, reducing capacity for complex or value-added requests.
In short: The system was under strain, both in response speed and resource utilisation.
Solution
Ciluna introduced an AI-driven contact-centre solution that now handles the majority of customer interactions for the Raan Group. Key features and workflow changes include:
AI-powered chat and voice channels that handle incoming inquiries automatically and in real time.
Pre-qualification and smart routing: simple, standardised requests are resolved immediately by AI; more complex or sensitive issues are forwarded to human agents — but only after the AI has pre-qualified them.
Full automation of repetitive information requests (licensing costs, EPR checklists, links, process guidance) — tasks that previously required manual handling.
Support is now available 24/7, including weekends, enabling responsiveness for international customers across time zones.
Centralised, consistent response templates — ensuring uniformity in answers and reducing human error.
Impact & Results
The transformation delivered substantial improvements across all key performance indicators and operational metrics:
Qualitative Benefits
Reduced manual workload: human agents are freed from repetitive, low-value tasks and can focus on complex issues.
Faster first response and resolution: customers receive near-instant replies, enhancing their experience.
Consistent, high-quality answers: AI ensures uniformity and accuracy in responses, minimising human error.
Better scalability and reliability: the system handles high volumes effortlessly, especially during off-peak hours or high email load times.
Global readiness: 24/7 availability supports international clients in different time zones, crucial for a pan-European compliance platform like Reclay and Circular Pro.
Voices From The Team
Thanks to the AI-powered support from Ciluna, our customer service capacity has multiplied! What took 15 minutes and human effort now takes under two minutes, with consistent quality and round-the-clock availability.
Why It Matters
By deploying an AI-driven contact centre, Raan Group (via Ciluna) turned its support operations from a slow, resource-intensive process into a fast, efficient, and scalable service. This shift not only reduced costs and handling times dramatically, but also improved service quality and satisfaction — while enabling the business to scale globally. The result: higher throughput, better resource allocation, and a significant competitive advantage for Raan Group in the EPR compliance space.
Let’s Build The Future OF AI, Together
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