Press and media releases 2018

More than 20 participants from industry, research and public institutions discussed sustainability and renewable energies on November 26, 2018.

Bioplastics are often associated with sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging. However, bioplastics are not just bioplastics.

Removal of complex phosphorus compounds such as phosphonates, phosphinates, phosphites, etc. from industrial process effluents with simultaneous phosphorus recovery through the use of boron-doped diamond electrodes and suitable precipitants or adsorbents. This is the aim of the "ElPhoDia" project funded by Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU).

Sorting material flows intelligently in real time is currently one of the greatest challenges in separation and sorting technology. The Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS is now addressing this issue.

Following the invitation of the Japanese raw materials and engineering company Kobelco, based in Kobe, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stauber, Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Project Group for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS, conducted a two-day workshop.

With the founding of an association, the German Resource Research Institute is taking the next step to further promote the bundling of raw material expertise from science and industry for the German economy.

For the first time, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft had its own booth at IMTS in Chicago, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs. The Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS represented the Lighthouse Project "Criticality of Rare Earth Elements” at the show.

During the workshop "New concepts and technologies for the circular economy" on July 11, 2018 in Alzenau, around 20 guests had the opportunity to look behind the scenes of the Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS and to exchange ideas in lectures and discussions.

Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stauber opened the conference with his lecture on new technologies and trends in lightweight.

According to the motto “Towards a Circular Economy“, the organization “Minerals En-gineering International“ (MEI) hosted the 5th International Symposium on Sustainable Minerals.

On June 26th, 2018, the Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS and the BVMW hosted the “Industry Night Sustainability in the Untermain Region“ in Alzenau.

At MatX from 27th until 28th June 2018 in Nuremberg, the Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS underlined the importance of a circular economy, above all with respect to new materials.

Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, underlined today at the Fraunhofer conference „FUTURAS IN RES“ the importance of using natural resources that do not compete with food production.

On May 16th, 2018, Hessian Minister of the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Priska Hinz, and Kristine Exner, Head of Department, Hessian Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, officially presented the resource protection strategy of the Government of Hesse. Well-known experts from science discussed the importance of an effective handling of raw materials in order to maintain our global ecosystem and supply for a growing world population.

Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS and BVMW invite you to the "Industry Night Sustainability in the Untermain Region“ on June 26th, 2018 in Alzenau

Presentation at the GIIC 2018 in Beijing During the Global Intelligent Industry Conference from May 22nd to 24th, 2018 in Beijing, China, the Fraunhofer Project Group for Material Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS participated with a lecture on “Innovative Recycling Technologies for tomorrow’s waste streams“.

Today‘s electromobility consumes large amounts of traction batteries, preferably high-performance lithium-ion batteries. These batteries contain valuable raw materials and should not be discarded as waste at the end of their life. Efficient recycling requires closed materials loops and a logistic solution capable of growing along with the increasing number of waste batteries from more and more electric vehicles. The research project »Automotive Battery Recycling 2020« which was launched earlier this year with EU-funding from EIT RawMaterials sets out to identify efficient recycling routines that are ecologically sound, economically viable and readily transferable to industrial scale. The overall aim is to improve the EU-wide recycling chain and add to a secure supply of raw materials through the recovery of valuable materials from waste streams.

Based on the success of the first Winter School of the education project SusCritMat (Sustainable Management of Critical Raw Materials) in January 2018, the project now announced that a second workshop is to take place in October 2018.

The education project SusCritMat (Sustainable Management of Critical Raw Materials) successfully completed its first workshop in January 2018. The pilot project, funded by EIT Raw Materials, offers a new approach to professional education for industry and academia representatives, researchers as well as scholars around the management and development of strategies for critical raw materials.

This was just one of the questions that four students from the Spessart Grammar School worked on during their SANTO internship at Fraunhofer Project Group IWKS in Alzenau