The solar panels going up on rooftops everywhere are solving one problem, and quietly creating another.
This episode is for female founders, women in tech, and anyone building at the intersection of sustainability and deep technology.
Host Dirkjan talks with Andjela Bozinac, co-founder and CEO of Renovo Recycling. Andjela is building a modular, chemical-free system that uses Physical AI and robotics to deconstruct end-of-life solar panels and recover high-value materials like aluminum, silicon, and glass.
Andjela's path combines mechanical engineering, intellectual property thinking, and a black belt in Taekwondo. She applies the same discipline she learned on the mat to building deep tech: showing up anyway, treating failure as feedback, and designing not just for what works in the lab, but for what gets adopted in the real world.
In this episode, you'll hear:
- Why solar energy is scaling fast while quietly creating a waste problem we don't know how to handle yet
- How Renovo's "vending machine in reverse" approach recovers materials without crushing or chemicals
- Why getting technology to work is only 30% of the journey — and what the other 70% actually requires
- How to sell urgency in deep tech without selling the future
- Why regulation in climate tech is a market, not a barrier
- Why now is the moment for women to enter AI and robotics, while the rules are still being written
Andjela also shares hard-won lessons from her first startup, TreeBlock, and how shifting from building the solution to building the right path to adoption changed everything about how she runs Renovo.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:00 Andjela’s Founder Journey
06:02 Engineering Background and Its Impact on Entrepreneurship
08:40 Lessons from Previous Ventures: TreeBlock Experience
11:38 The Problem of Solar Panel Waste and Recycling Challenges
14:38 Identifying the Core Issues in Solar Panel Recycling
17:34 Innovative Solutions for Solar Panel Deconstruction
20:20 Modular Systems and Their Advantages in Recycling
21:19 Targeting Solar Installers: A Strategic Approach
23:51 Current Status and Future Plans for Renovo Recycling
24:02 The Role of AI in Physical Recycling
27:18 Preparing for the Solar Waste Surge
30:23 Fundraising in Deeptech
34:50 Convincing Stakeholders of Urgency
37:38 Regulatory Support and Compliance
39:04 Expanding Beyond Solar Panels
40:58 Practical Insights for Founders
45:30 Empowering Women in Tech
49:37 Building a Supportive Funding Ecosystem
Connect with Andjela Bozinac and Renovo Recycling
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bozinac-andjela24/
Website: https://www.renovo-recycling.it/
Renovo on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@renovosrl
Check out the show notes on https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/05/28/episode-154/
Women Disrupting Tech on Substack
https://open.substack.com/pub/womendisruptingtech/p/episode-154?r=2v0lts&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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