Press releases, interviews and news

How can we make the transition from linear to circular value creation? Dr. Markus Hiebel and Jan-Philip Kopka, heads of the “Circular Logistics and Sustainability” Research Department at the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE, explain why sustainability assessments, smart logistics, artificial intelligence and reliable data are among the key success factors for the circular economy.

How can municipalities better align fluctuating renewable energy yields, heating demand, and local energy production? In the joint research project “biovolatil,” the project partners are developing and testing technical solutions to operate biomass gasifiers with combined heat and power plants in a demand-responsive manner and to integrate them with geothermal energy and existing municipal energy systems. A newly developed reactor insert has already been in operation for approximately 3,000 operating hours. Initial tests on product gas recirculation also demonstrate how the operating range can be expanded.

The new EU directive “Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition” – EmpCo for short – will take effect on September 27, 2026. The goal is to prevent misleading claims regarding the environmental and sustainability aspects of products or services. This is intended to protect consumers from greenwashing. The new EU requirements apply to all companies, regardless of size. With ISO-compliant life cycle assessments (LCA, EPD), Fraunhofer UMSICHT offers the opportunity to evaluate the environmental aspects of products, processes or companies along their value chains. Dr. Markus Hiebel from the Sustainability Management and Participation Department provides a brief assessment of the new directive.

In its annual study for Interzero, Fraunhofer UMSICHT examined how circular economy practices can help protect the climate and conserve resources: Compared to primary production, 900,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and 7.2 million metric tons of resources were saved in 2025. A particular focus this year was on plastics recycling.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT is developing an innovative process that meets the stricter requirements of the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (KARL) while simultaneously reducing energy and resource consumption as well as disposal costs. What makes it unique is that pollutants are adsorbed onto resins, which can be regenerated directly on-site and converted into a concentrate. The process is set to enter demonstration operation at the Wolfsburg wastewater treatment plant.

Importing green hydrogen via international supply chains from overseas to North Rhine-Westphalia is technically feasible, potentially competitive and logistically viable. This is demonstrated by the RE-Chain study (“Building Resilient Energy Supply Chains”) conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT. The study was commissioned by the Port of Amsterdam and Duisburger Hafen AG (duisport).

New EU regulations, increasing demands for recyclability, and the call for circular products are putting pressure on companies to take action. But how can this transition actually be achieved? Sabrina Schreiner and Anna Krüger from the Research Department for Application and Demonstration at the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE explain why circular design is a key competitive factor and why monomaterials alone are not yet a solution.

Advancing technologies for a climate-neutral industry together: The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP and the South Korean energy company SGC Energy are pooling their expertise to further develop processes for CO₂ utilization and hydrogen production, as well as battery and fuel cell technologies. The partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this end.

How can we successfully navigate the path to a climate-neutral future? Since 2022, this question has been the focus of the traveling exhibition “Power2Change: Mission Energy Transition.” At ten locations across Germany, it brought both challenges and potential solutions to life for a broad audience. Now that the exhibition has come to an end, Sandra Naumann takes stock. The UMSICHT researcher was involved in the “Science Communication on the Energy Transition” project almost from the very beginning and played a special role: She coordinated collaboration among the project partners and bridged the perspectives of research, museum work and science communication.

In the international research and demonstration project Syschemiq, 21 consortium partners from five EU countries spent four years investigating how a cross-border plastic circular economy can be implemented and optimized. Whether it was sorting technology, recycling awareness or product design – the project aimed to overcome the most significant technical and non-technical barriers. Fraunhofer UMSICHT was particularly active in the areas of “Design for Recycling,” “Collection,” and the “City-Lab Program,” and, for example, conducted a study on consumer behavior. In the podcast, Dr. Anna Kerps discusses the project’s findings and challenges.