Press and media releases 2019

The REGINA project aims to lay the foundations for the development of a Brazilian magnet industry. The magnets manufactured there should not only be produced more sustainably and be economically competitive, but the rare earths required for this should also come from domestic resources.

Solar cells with the highest efficiencies deliver electricity cost-effectively, demanding less space and materials. High efficiencies also enable new products, such as energy-independent buildings or electric cars, which can be recharged via solar cells. However, the efficiency of silicon solar cells can no longer be arbitrarily increased. The physical limits responsible for this can be overcome using tandem solar cells. With them, efficiencies above 35% are possible. Tandem solar cells are therefore in the focus of current solar cell research. At the same time, the photovoltaic capacity added annually will increase to more than 1 TWP worldwide within the next 5–10 years. These quantities also mean that critical materials (e.g. lead) are to be consistently avoided in the production of solar modules. Consequently, in the MaNiTu lighthouse project, six Fraunhofer institutes are joining forces in developing sustainable, highly efficient and cost-effective tandem solar cells based on new absorber materials.

Under the leadership of Roland Weigert, State Secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, a delegation of representatives from industry and science visited Egypt from October 26 to 30, 2019. Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stauber represented the Fraunhofer IWKS.

Prof. Dr. Armin Reller, co-founder and former scientific director of the Fraunhofer IWKS, was awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Congratulations to an outstanding scientist and pioneer of resource research from the Fraunhofer Institution for Material Cycles and Resource Strategy IWKS.

Together with the environmental consulting company envitec-k, the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS has started a new research project to develop a new type of collection system. The Automatic Waste Collecting & Pre-Sorting System (AWCPSS) aims to classify and sort waste directly in residential areas. The system analyses the contents of a discarded waste bag and reports the result directly to the user. This means that incorrect throws or excessive contamination with other waste groups or impurities can be efficiently corrected on site.

The Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS shows applications for a new polymer raw material made from food residues, which is not only bio-based but also biodegradable.

E-waste contains many recyclable materials that should be recovered for recycling. These include high-quality metals such as gold, copper, tantalum and rare earth elements, but also high-quality plastics. While some metals such as gold and copper, for example, can already be recovered efficiently, many valuable materials and around half of the low-concentration metals contained in e-waste are still lost in conventional recycling processes. A consortium consisting of the Technische Universität Aschaffenburg, the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS and the industrial partners Sesotec and Mairec has now set itself the goal within the framework of the project "IRVE - Innovative Recycling Processes for Electronic Waste" of finding new processes for the efficient recovery of components containing valuable materials from electronic waste.

From July 1-3, 2019, experts from around the world met at the E-Mobility & Circular Economy (EMCE 2019) Conference in Tokyo to explore how electromobility can contribute to a sustainable and responsible approach to our environment. Researchers from Fraunhofer IWKS showed their innovative approaches to battery recycling.

On May 29, 2019, a delegation from ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute, Taiwan) visited the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS.

The Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS with locations in Alzenau (Bavaria) and Hanau (Hesse) has concluded a research cooperation with the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS) in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). This is the first cooperation in the field of environmental protection within the Fraunhofer organization with a research institution in Ethiopia.