Pressreleases

The »2026 NST-Fraunhofer Global Technology Exchange Forum« took place at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS in Alzenau and Hanau on July 16 and 17, 2026. Fraunhofer IWKS hosted the event together with K-FAST (Korea-Fraunhofer Collaboration Hub for Science and Technology), the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST), and CODA.

Viridis Recycling GmbH, a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS, has received approval under the German Federal Immission Control Act (Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz, BImSchG) for its site in Hanau. The granting of this authorisation marks a significant milestone for the construction and operation of the recycling plant. It forms the legal basis for the future industrial recycling of lithium-ion batteries and battery waste at the Hanau site.

The automated recycling of flexible materials such as textiles, cables and fuel cell membranes from batteries poses major challenges for modern waste management. The new European research project "FlexCycle" focus-es on the development of innovative robotics and AI solutions. With a budget of €7.5 million and 12 partners from six countries, the project aims to make recycling processes for flexible materials suitable for industrial use. Over the next four years, autonomous systems will be developed that are capable of dismantling complex structures such as clothing, electrical cables and batteries and recovering valuable components.

Taking place in Hong Kong on 9 October, the International GreenTech Symposium 2025 was a major event for anyone interested in sustainable technology and resource management.

The recycling industry faces major challenges, especially when it comes to sort-ing plastics. The Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE invites anyone interested in this topic to an online seminar on October 2, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event will focus on innovative sorting technol-ogies, which are considered key to improving the recycling of plastics.

On June 27 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., researchers from the high-performance center hydrogen Hesse invite interested citizens, families and students to the EXPERIMINTA ScienceCenter in Frankfurt am Main for an exciting dialogue on the topic of "Hydrogen as the energy of the future". There will be hands-on stations, experiments, lectures and opportunities to talk to the research sci-entists. The event is free of charge and registration is not necessary.

Christoph Degen, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture, visited Fraunhofer IWKS in Hanau. He was accompanied by Heiko Kasseckert, Member of the State Parliament, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Walter, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at Technical University of Darmstadt.

Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells made of stable materials and manufactured using scalable production processes are the prerequisite for the next technological leap in the photovoltaic industry. Over the past five years, six Fraunhofer Institutes combined their expertise in the Fraunhofer lighthouse project "MaNiTU" to identify the most sustainable paths for the market launch of such tandem solar cells. They were able to show for one that high cell efficiencies can be achieved using industry-oriented processes, however, that such high efficiencies were only currently achievable with lead perovskite materials. Based on these findings, the researchers developed suitable recycling concepts to ensure sustainability.

The amount of plastic waste is constantly increasing, placing a heavy burden on the climate and resources. This makes it all the more important to develop intelligent recycling strategies that reduce waste and keep resources in the cycle. The Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS is working on this and other sustainability-related research. On November 5, 2024, the applied research facility will open its doors from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and invites all interested citizens to gain insights into the latest findings and technologies. The “Open Hub Day” of the Fraunhofer IWKS is part of the pioneering K3I-Cycling project of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The event is free of charge and is aimed at both interested laypeople and visitors from the field.

On Tuesday, July 30, Till Mansmann, Innovation Commissioner for »Green Hydrogen« at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and development policy spokesperson for the FDP, visited the High Performance Center - Green Materials for Hydrogen, Hesse »GreenMat4H2« in Hanau and Darmstadt. In close cooperation with regional partners, the High Performance Center pools the expertise of the Fraunhofer IWKS and the Fraunhofer LBF in order to develop future-proof concepts for a sustainable, geopolitically independent, efficient and safe hydrogen economy. Till Mansmann gained deep insights into the hydrogen activities in Hessen and gathered important impulses from research and science, which he would like to contribute to the public discourse.