Press releases, interviews and news

A new EU regulation* provides for a ban on small individual packaging made from disposable plastic for coffee creamers. These consist of a polystyrene base film and an aluminum lid, both of which are usually incinerated after use. An alternative in the hospitality industry, e.g. in bakeries, cafés or in the travel sector, are reusable solutions. Fraunhofer UMSICHT carried out a life cycle assessment for the company frischli Milchwerke to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of reusable solutions such as ceramic jugs or thermos flasks compared to individual packaging.

By making cooling supply systems more flexible, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 22 to 39 percent and electricity procurement costs by 35 to 54 percent. Fraunhofer UMSICHT came to this conclusion in the "FlexKaelte" project. At the same time, the researchers found that there are still a number of obstacles and hurdles on the way to flexibilization – from concerns about possible losses in cooling quality and a lack of information regarding the achievable economic potential to the question of how cooperation between the various players can be structured. How these obstacles can be overcome is the focus of the follow-up project "FlexBlue", for which the institute has joined forces with a number of partners.

Fundamental changes are needed if North Rhine-Westphalia is to become a climate-neutral industrial location and remain competitive at the same time. In addition to new production processes and production methods, an optimized infrastructure and adapted framework conditions are required above all. The IN4climate.NRW think tank provides input for this. Representatives from industry, science and politics are meeting here for the first time to provide impetus for the transformation of the raw materials industry. Christoph Glasner from Fraunhofer UMSICHT has been involved right from the start.