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.

On 12 August 2025, Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich and Dr. Ewa Harlacz visited our INZIN doctoral student, Christian Großhauser, at MicroPyros’s methanisation plants. MicroPyros BioEnerTec GmbH has been a member of INZIN since 2023 and produces renewable non-fossil natural gas from biogenic residues and waste materials through methanisation. These residues and waste materials originate from Straubing’s municipal drainage and street cleaning service (SER), enabling MicrPyros to process them directly on site. Christian Großhauser is conducting his PhD research into the investigation and optimisation of methane formation rates in methanisation reactors, and he provided an interesting tour of the plant.

At this year’s Ostbayernschau trade fair, SER is focusing on environmental and water protection. The company is committed to recycling, reducing CO2 emissions, promoting renewable energies and developing other future technologies, thereby contributing to environmental, climate and water protection.

It was a very successful day in Straubing, which ended at the Lechner marquee at the Gäuboden Folk Festival, where SER had reserved a table. With around 1.3 million visitors, the Gäubodenvolksfest is the second largest folk festival in Bavaria.

We would like to thank Christian Großhauser, MicroPyros and SER for the interesting tour of the facilities and the wonderful insights into Bavarian folk festival culture.

More about MicroPyros: Biomethanisation

On 7 August 2025, our doctoral scholarship holders Carina Diemel and Klara Theobald accompanied Professor Martin Faulstich to the EUREF Campus Düsseldorf as part of the summer tour of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Environment Minister Oliver Krischer.

The event kicked off with a short welcome speech in the dome of the EUREF Campus by Reinhard Müller, founder and member of the EUREF Campus Executive Board. Professor Martin Faulstich then presented the degree programmes and educational opportunities that will be offered in Düsseldorf in the future. Lectures will begin here in the 2025/2026 winter semester with two new master’s degree programmes:

• M. Sc. Sustainable Energy and Hydrogen Infrastructures

• M. Sc. Management of Smart and Sustainable Energy Systems

This was followed by a tour of the EUREF campus, where the companies based there, Schneider Electric, SPIE and DUSBeyond, introduced themselves. Environment Minister Oliver Krischer took the opportunity to find out about innovative projects and training opportunities in the environmental sector.

Schneider Electric reported on its sustainability strategy and presented practical examples of the successful implementation of sustainability projects.

SPIE presented itself in its new showroom and demonstrated how the company specifically recruits and trains skilled workers with the aim of increasing the attractiveness of technical trades.

DUSBeyond presented the airport’s sustainability strategy and three selected projects that contribute significantly to strengthening sustainability.

More information about the EUREF Campus: EUREF Campus Düsseldorf

We are delighted to welcome Carina Diemel, who joined us on 1 May 2025, and Klara Theobald, who joined us on 1 July 2025, as new INZIN scholarship holders to our team.

Carina Diemel is a scholarship holder and consultant at the INZIN Institute and conducts research on heterogeneous recycled raw materials in steel production. She studied industrial engineering with a focus on mechanical engineering at the University of Paderborn and has several years of professional experience as a research assistant.

Klara Theobald is also a scholarship holder and consultant at the INZIN Institute and conducts research in the field of circular economy. She completed her master’s degree in ‘Environmental and Business Management’ in February 2022 at the Birkenfeld Environmental Campus of Trier University of Applied Sciences. She then spent three years as a research assistant at the Birkenfeld Environmental Campus in the field of circular economy, conducting research on reusable systems.

On 31 July 2025, Dr Ewa Harlacz visited the photovoltaic recycling plant (PV recycling plant) of Reiling GmbH & Co. KG as part of Environment Minister Oliver Krischer’s summer tour. Together with Environment Minister Oliver Krischer and Lara Wever (Head of Department VIII B 4), they took a tour led by Tom Reiling, Managing Director of Reiling GmbH & Co. KG, Sarah Menden (Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications) and Malte Fislake (Operations Manager at Reiling PV Recycling).

Photovoltaic modules enable clean energy generation. The Reiling company is dedicated to the resource-efficient disposal of these modules through recycling. After use, the PV systems are inspected at Germany’s first photovoltaic recycling site in Münster. Only those parts that can no longer be used are recycled according to their components. This allows silicones, glass and metals to be reused as recyclates on an industrial scale.

A picture featuring one of artist HA Schult’s ‘Trash People’ figures was a must!

We would like to thank Reiling GmbH & Co. KG for the fascinating tour of their facilities.

More information on the supply system, regional potential and circular approaches to the use of critical raw materials in North Rhine-Westphalia can be found in the Green Economy Paper published by the Environmental Economy Competence Network NRW:

Green Economy Paper

On 10 July 2025, the Green Economy Network.NRW hosted the second event in its Plastics Dialogue series. This time, the event took place at the Industry Club Düsseldorf and focused particularly on start-ups and innovative solutions in the plastics industry.

Following a brief welcome and introduction to the Green Economy Network.NRW by Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich, Daniel Ohl (PhD scholarship holder and speaker at INZIN) took over the moderation and guided the participants through the event.

Firstly, Bettina Dempewolf, Head of Communications at Plastics Europe, gave an exciting keynote speech in which she reported on current challenges in the plastics industry. Three innovative start-ups from the plastics industry then introduced themselves. Sebastian Pütter from Smart Plastify opened proceedings, followed by Dr. Louisa Desel from Osphim and Dr. Nils Prinz from AES pyrolysis plants. Stefan Weber from chemstars.NRW then gave the final keynote speech, which focused on promoting start-ups in the chemical and plastics industry. During the Q&A session, audience members had the opportunity to ask the founders and speakers questions. Many participants took the opportunity to continue their dialogue and networking at the get-together.

We would like to thank all the speakers and guests for participating and for the inspiring dialogue. Special thanks go to Daniel Ohl, our doctoral scholarship holder and speaker, for successfully organising and moderating the event.