Ewa Harlacz

The Metal Working Group of the Round Table for Circular Value Creation NRW supports the transformation of the metal industry towards a climate-neutral circular economy.

For the second time, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was an opportunity for various players in the value chain, as well as people from science and politics, to come together. This enabled an exchange of ideas on concrete solutions and technologies in the areas of circular design, modularity, digital product passports and scrap quality. Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich and our doctoral student Carina Diemel were also in attendance.

The meeting of stakeholders showed in the discussion that only through cooperation and collaboration between all parties can circular approaches in the metal industry be advanced.

There are already some exciting examples of circular economy strategies being implemented. Examples include offsee GmbH / ID Lab, Outokumpu and TSR Group GmbH & Co. KG – Recycling.

The theme table plans to continue discussing higher R strategies and their implementation at upcoming meetings.

More on the metal theme table: Metal theme table – Round table

The necessity and technical feasibility of recovering phosphorus from sewage sludge is a widely discussed topic within the environmental industry. Nevertheless, the expansion of appropriate facilities is lagging behind, so concepts are needed to bridge the gap. In this interview, our speaker, Konstantin Saure, talks to Hartmut Haeming, CEO of InwesD – Interessengemeinschaft Deutscher Deponiebetreiber e.V. (Association of German Landfill Operators) – about the role of temporary storage of sewage sludge ash in landfills, and the many issues that still need to be resolved. The interview has been published in the current issue of the Springer trade journal Wasser und Abfall (Water and Waste). We would like to thank Mr Haeming for his fascinating insights, and Gabi Gerhardt, Markus Porth, and Florian Bischof from the editorial team for organising and conducting the interview.

On 22 October 2025, our two scholarship holders and speakers, Carina Diemel and Klara Theobald, had the opportunity to participate in the 10th Japan Get-together at the EUREF Campus Düsseldorf and present the courses offered by the Talent Campus Düsseldorf on behalf of our chairman, Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich. The event was organised by the Japan Desk of the City of Düsseldorf’s Economic Development Agency and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Düsseldorf. Japanese companies based in Düsseldorf are informed about new projects and developments in Düsseldorf at this event.

After welcoming remarks by Ms Annette Klerks (Deputy Head of Economic Development), Mr Masakazu Tachikawa (Managing Director of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and Mr Jörg Philippi-Gerle (Site Manager of the EUREF Campus Düsseldorf), our scholarship holders presented the new master’s programmes offered by the Talent Campus at the EUREF Campus Düsseldorf. This was followed by an exciting tour of the EUREF Campus led by Mr Jörg Philippi-Gerle, with stops at the Club Zukunft and the energy centre, among other places, and interesting presentations by Ms Hannah Beckschulte, Mr Florian Fuchs and Mr Jonas Schnorrenberg from Stadtwerke Düsseldorf.

The event concluded with a networking get-together with representatives from the participating Japanese companies.

A big thank you to Ms Juliane Neu and everyone else involved for the invitation and the excellent organisation of this successful event.

Lithium batteries for electrical devices often pose a fire risk throughout their entire value chain. 27. On 28 October 2025, this very issue will be examined in greater detail. The symposium organised by CReED e.V. c.o. Kreisabfallverwertungsgesellschaft Minden-Lübbecke mbH offers solutions for local authorities, businesses and academia.

Our doctoral student Klara Theobald will give a presentation at the symposium on ‘The transformation of the electronics industry to a circular economy using the example of East Westphalia-Lippe’.

Programme and registration at: CReED

On 9 October 2025, the third dialogue in the KNUW plastics dialogue series took place at the K trade fair, the world’s largest plastics trade fair, as an interactive tour under the motto ‘Environmental economy meets plastics’.Together with representatives from industry, science and the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Environment, we took a look at the future of a sustainable plastics industry and the contribution that the environmental economy can make to this transformation process.

At Plastics Europe, participants were given a comprehensive overview of the potential applications of plastics and the current challenges facing the industry.. It became clear that plastics play a central role in numerous future fields, but at the same time innovations and new approaches must be developed to reduce resource consumption and environmental impact.

The BASF stand focused on the life cycle of plastics. Under the guiding principle of ‘Make – Use – Recycle’, participants were shown how circular economy can be implemented in practice. The focus was on both technological solutions and responsibility along the entire value chain.

The topic was then explored in greater depth at the Fraunhofer Institute, where questions relating to more efficient recycling and bio-based alternatives were discussed. compared to conventional plastics. This demonstrated how research and innovation can make a decisive contribution to advancing sustainable materials and processes.

The visit concluded with a tour of R-Cycle, a cross-company project that is developing a digital product passport for plastic packaging. This technology enables transparent tracking throughout the entire life cycle and opens up new perspectives for data-based, circular economy.

The tour impressively demonstrated that the environmental sector and the plastics industry must work together to find solutions that balance sustainability, innovation and competitiveness.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all the speakers from the companies and to our guests for their participation and inspiring exchange. We were delighted to welcome international guests from a delegation from Malaysia to our tour. Special thanks also go to our doctoral scholarship holder and speaker Daniel Ohl for the successful organisation.

From 8 October 2025 to 17 December 2025, Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences is offering an exciting lecture series on the topic of sustainability. There will be lectures on interesting topics related to the circular economy by experienced figures from the worlds of education and business. The lecture series offers a great opportunity to get in touch with various stakeholders and exchange ideas on topics related to the circular economy and sustainability.

Our Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich will kick things off on 8 October 2025 with a lecture entitled ‘Circular Economy – an essential pillar of industrial society’

Lecture duration: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Lecture location: Keßlerplatz 12, 90489 Nuremberg, Lecture Hall KA.002 at the K location

Further information on the lecture series and other lectures:

ohm_Flyer_Ringvorlesung_Kreislaufwirtschaft

On 8 September 2025, the Innovation Congress took place at the EUREF Campus. The Green Economy Network.NRW (KNUW) was also represented with a stand on that day. Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich, Dr. Ewa Harlacz, Dr. Ulrich Teich and our doctoral students Konstantin Saure, Carina Diemel and Klara Theoabld were in attendance.

The congress was opened with a speech by Minister President Hendrik Wüst, who emphasised the importance of strengthening North Rhine-Westphalia as a location for innovation and start-ups through new ideas and innovations, thereby contributing to the state’s future viability. Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Neubauer and Minister for Science Brandes also addressed the audience.

The NRW Innovation Award 2025 was also presented in recognition of innovation in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Holger Stark (university professor of pharmaceutical and medical chemistry and managing director of the scientific institution Pharmacy at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf) won the ‘Innovation’ category, which comes with prize money of €75,000. Together with his team, he developed a new treatment method for glaucoma.

The ‘innovation2business’ category, with prize money of €15,000 twice, was won by Dr. Christian Schwarz (co-founder and managing partner of Numaferm GmbH, Düsseldorf) and Prof. Dr. Lutz Schmitt (Chair of Biochemistry I at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf) for the development of a sustainable biological process for the synthesis of proteins and peptides.

The prize for the ‘innovation2market’ category, with prize money of €15,000, was awarded to Dr. Martin Schleef (founder, long-standing managing director and shareholder of PlasmidFactory GmbH, Bielefeld). He succeeded in reducing the size of plasmid DNA so that it can be used in cancer therapy.

The audience award ‘innovation4transformation’, with prize money of €15,000, went to Dr.-Ing. Andreas Bremen (founder and managing director of Co-reactive GmbH, Düsseldorf) for the development of an innovative mineralisation process that converts CO₂ emissions into high-performance additives for cement.

We congratulate all winners and are delighted with the success of the Innovation Congress.

On 5 September 2025, INNOWA GmbH (shareholders DEW21 and EDG Holding GmbH) presented the first construction phases and planned steps for its innovative energy park. The project will be implemented at the Dortmund-Nordorst landfill site. Prof. Dr. Faulstich was also on site for the presentation by INNOWA GmbH.

The initial plan is to install a photovoltaic system with battery storage. The electricity generated by this system will be used to supply 3,000 households with electricity all year round. Later, car and truck charging facilities and a biomethane plant will also be added. The electricity generated in the energy park will then also supply the landfill site’s facilities and vehicles belonging to the EDG group of companies with electricity.

The Energy Park project is a future-oriented, solution-focused model for climate-neutral energy supply in Dortmund and can serve as a blueprint for further projects of this kind.

DEW21, an energy supplier, implemented this project in collaboration with EDG Holding GmbH.

We would like to thank you for the inspiring insights into the Energy Park project and look forward to its successful implementation.

On 20 August, our colleague Carina Diemel, representing the Green Economy Network.NRW, accompanied Environment Minister Oliver Krischer’s delegation on a visit to Talbot-Services GmbH in Aachen as part of his summer tour. The delegation included Lara Wever (Head of Division VIII B 4) and other representatives of the Environment Ministry.

An exciting presentation by Managing Director Dirk Reuters on the company’s history, its core competencies and the planned expansion investments in Stolberg was followed by a tour of the company.

Talbot Services GmbH focuses on servicing and modernising rail vehicles, thereby making an important contribution to sustainability. Vehicles are brought up to the latest technical standards, visually upgraded and their service life significantly extended. During the tour of the various halls, the areas of maintenance and servicing as well as vehicle preparation and painting were presented. Talbot Services GmbH offers a comprehensive full-service package ranging from modernisation and maintenance to final assembly and accident repair.

Many thanks to Talbot-Services GmbH for the exciting insights.