The KuRT newsletter is published twice a year. You can subscribe free of charge using the online form below.
Before the start of the development of a new DIN SPEC, there is the possibility to comment on the business plan.
The business plan for DIN SPEC 91531 is now available for public comment.
Registrations for cooperation and comments on the business plan are requested and are possible until 03/11/2025.
The ‘Zukunftsforum Kunststoffkreislauf’ is a joint conference of the funding programme ‘Ressourceneffiziente Kreislaufwirtschaft - Kunststoffrecyclingtechnologien (KURT)’ and the ‘KI-Anwendungshub Kunststoffverpackungen- nachhaltige Kreislaufwirtschaft durch Künstliche Intelligenz’, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
The (preliminary) results of the research projects will be presented, opportunities and barriers in the implementation of sustainable solutions in the plastics industry will be highlighted and a platform for dialogue between science, industry, associations and politics will be created at the event, which will take place on 1 - 3 July 2025 in Berlin, Germany.
Further information is available here.
The KuRT_Plus networking and transfer project presented the BMBF funding measure ‘Resource-efficient Circular Economy - Plastic Recycling Technologies’ from 16 to 17 October 2024 at the 13th Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Congress BW in the new Congress Center Heidelberg.
Together with the K3I-Cycling project of the AI Application Hub on Plastic Packaging, KuRT_Plus presented innovative solutions for optimising plastics recycling. The 1,500 visitors were able to gain an insight into current developments relating to greater resource efficiency, sustainability and the closed-loop recycling of plastic packaging as well as the use of artificial intelligence to conserve resources. In addition to the 75 stands at the trade exhibition, relevant topics such as decarbonisation, GreenTech, circularity and digitalisation were explored in greater depth in the various lecture blocks. The event concluded with an exciting presentation on raw material justice and the availability of raw materials. The congress provided a valuable platform for inspiring discussions and new networking opportunities for the future.
The KuRT project "HydroCycling" will present itself this year on 17 and 18 September 2024 in Schwechat at the K3/C3 - 16th Conference of the Department of Conversion of Carbon Carriers.
Be there when science and industry meet! The conference is jointly organised by the DGMK specialist area "Conversion of Carbon Carriers", the ÖGEW, Austrian Society for Energy Sciences and PlasticsEurope Deutschland e. V.
On 4 and 5 June 2024, the Federal President of Germany and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) invited people to the park of Schloss Bellevue in Berlin to exchange ideas for a greener future. The focus was on current environmental topics such as the circular economy, energy transition, biodiversity and much more. The KuRT project "ReVise-UP" was also represented.
The draft of a National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS) has been presented and the public consultation has started. It is possible to submit written comments on the draft NKWS until 9 July 2024. The VCI is currently preparing an initial analysis of the draft together with Plastics Europe Deutschland. A consultation contribution will then be drawn up jointly. Your initial impressions, suggestions and comments on the draft NKWS are welcome at any time.
The workshop will take place on 7 August, 13:00 - 16:00, online. Registration is possible until 1 August 2024.
The following topics will be discussed
- What gaps exist in standardisation to raise the recyclability of products and materials to a new level?
- Where is there a need for standardisation across industries? And who is interested in working on the committees?
Guideline for the promotion of technology and knowledge transfer through patents, standardisation and standardisation for the economic exploitation of innovative ideas from companies and universities "WIPANO - Knowledge and Technology Transfer through Patents and Standards". The directive entered into force on 1 January 2024 and will remain in force until 31 December 2027.
At ACHEMA 2024 you can once again expect a comprehensive and exciting congress programme on current highlight topics. The funding measure "KuRT" will also be represented by the networking and transfer project KuRT_Plus on Monday, 10 June 2024 at 10 a.m. with a presentation at the ACHEMA 2024 leading trade fair for the process industry.
With its "Ressource.NRW" call for proposals, the state government of NRW is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in investing in innovative measures to implement new resource-efficient technologies such as collection, sorting and recycling technologies in the sense of a circular economy. The state of NRW and the EU are providing more than €31.4 million for this purpose as part of the ERDF/JTF Programme NRW 2021-2027. A total of three application rounds are planned until the end of 2025. The deadline for the first round is 1 April 2024.
The new large-scale research centre "Centre for the Transformation of Chemistry (CTC)" will be located in Merseburg, next to Delitzsch in northern Saxony, and the joint project "pool-in-loop" of the Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with a total of five million euros, is a first example of the incipient transformation of chemistry in southern Saxony-Anhalt.
Fraunhofer CCPE researchers have identified ten challenges and ten requirements that increase comparability and transparency in the ecological assessment of plastic recycling.
Around 60 experts met in Frankfurt am Main on 23 and 24 January 2024 for a joint kick-off of the BMBF-funding measure "Resource-efficient circular economy - plastic recycling technologies (KuRT)".
Two standards have been published on the topic of sorting facilities for lightweight packaging - recyclable material efficiency and other quality criteria. The documents are available free of charge.
This year, the organising team is once again following the idea of KONGRESS BW guests helping to shape the programme on the topics of resource efficiency and the circular economy. They are invited to contribute ideas and suggestions for topics, contributions, forums or plenary sessions. We are looking for suggestions and ideas on the topics of resource efficiency, the circular economy and climate protection. The organisation team will accept ideas and suggestions with a brief description until 20 February 2024 at
Within the framework programme "Research for Sustainable Development - FONA3", the BMBF is funding six research projects and a networking and transfer project that will work on solutions for greater resource efficiency in the recycling of plastics until 2028.
Over the next four years, 17 research institutes, associations and industry partners will be working on the research project "Improving the process efficiency of mechanical recycling of post-consumer plastic packaging waste through intelligent material flow management - implementation phase"; ReVise-UP.