Recycling

Since it is technically and economically impossible to reduce the amount of plastic waste in oceans, solutions to cut the entry of such substances into the environment must be developed. Developing countries, however, often lack land-based approaches to such solutions.

The goal of this project is to set up a markerbased system for sorting and recycling that involves every stage from packaging development and sorting technology to high quality material reuse. The MaRek project demonstrates the usefulness of fluorescent markers for waste management applications.

solvoPET aims to develop a solvolytic recycling process for materials made of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) in multilayer or mixed materials and to carry out experimental trials. Inactive patents for solvolysis of single-variety PET waste form the basis for this research: those solvolytic processes will be enhanced into a continuous waste treatment concept that can recycle PET waste.

In view of climate change, environmental pollution, population growth, and resource dependency, the transition from a linear economy to a closed-loop economy is both ecologically and economically necessary. The aim of the ResolVe project is to develop a logistics and an industrial plant concept for the economic use of polystyrene waste as a raw material for high-quality new plastic products.

Consumers buying products made of or wrapped in plastic play a decisive role in plastic consumption in Germany. A complete avoidance of plastic in everyday life, while unlikely to occur in full, would only be possible with extremely high restrictions. Moreover, many consumers are not aware of how much plastic is put into circulation or into the environment by buying a product.