KuRT Kick-Off Event

The kick-off event of the BMBF funding measure "Resource-efficient circular economy - plastic recycling technologies (KuRT)" took place on 23 and 24 January 2024 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany & online (<< Agenda).

The event served as a platform for researchers to present their projects, discuss challenges and discover synergies to lay the foundations for future collaboration. From sorting and recycling to final plastic processing - the ideas presented promise sustainable solutions and significant progress in resource efficiency.

To press release (German)

Presentations (german)

Day 1 (23 January 2024)

Welcome
(Dr. Wolf Junker, Federal Ministry of Education and Research)
Presentation of the networking and transfer project "KuRT_Plus"
(Katja Wendler, DECHEMA e.V.)
Keynote “Quo vadis Kunststoffwirtschaft?”
(Dr. Peter Orth, OPC – Orth Plastics Consulting)

Presentation of the "KuRT" research projects - Part I

HydroCycling: Chemical recycling of used plastics into petrochemical raw materials and base chemicals
(Dr. Michael Bender, BASF SE)
pool-in-loop: Development of an energy-efficient depolymerisation process for polyolefin-containing plastic waste using catalysts for the direct production of polymers for new plastics
(Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mathias Seitz, Hochschule Merseburg)
ProGeo-UP: Implementation of product stewardship through closed-loop geosynthetics
(Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Heimbecher, Fachhochschule Münster)

Presentation of the BMBF funding measure „AI application hub on plastic packaging - sustainable circular economy through artificial intelligence“

Innovationslabor „KIOptiPack - Holistic AI-based optimization of plastic packaging with recycled content"
(Dr.-Ing. Malte Schön, RWTH Aachen)
Innovationslabor „K3I-Cycling - AI-based optimization of the recirculation of plastic packaging“
(Prof. Dr. Andreas Maier, Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen)

Day 2 (24 January 2024)

Presentation of the "KuRT" research projects - Part II

ReVise-UP: Improving the process efficiency of mechanical recycling of post-consumer plastic packaging waste through intelligent material flow management
(Prof. Dr. Kathrin Greiff, RWTH Aachen)
CircuTray-UP: Innovative technologies for implementing a circular economy for PET trays in food packaging
(Benedikt Hanschmann, Fraunhofer-Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung)
SmellStop: Odour reduction as a key technology for the use of recycled post-consumer polyethylene
(Dr.-Ing. Malte Schön, RWTH Aachen)

Presentation of plastics-related projects from the BMBF funding measure „KMU-innovativ: Resource efficiency and climate protection“

decoTEX – Challenges in back-to-monomer recycling: separation of colours, finishes and other contaminants
(Charlotte Lücking, RITTEC 8.0 Umwelttechnik GmbH)
KIKS –Development of a digital platform for the efficient development of sustainable plastics and increasing the material recycling rate using physics-informed neural networks
(Alina Hoffmann, Twins Crew GmbH)

Posters (german)