Circular Economy

The IKV Colloquium demonstrated the plastics industry’s resilience in addressing current challenges. On February 28th-29th, 2024, RWTH Aachen University’s IKV organized an event fostering industry-academia exchanges.

NAFION, a remarkable polymer crafted by the Chemours Company, earns widespread acclaim for its exceptional properties and versatile applications across various industries.

While certain PFASs are notorious for their toxicity, persistence, and environmental mobility, Fluoropolymers emerge because of their durability, safety, water insolubility, and bio-inertia. These high-performance polymers are revolutionizing industries with their attributes.

The plastics market demands sustainable alternatives to conventional fossil-based plastics. Bio-Polyethylene emerges as a promising solution, offering environmental advantages and maintaining performance.

Between 2016-2018, aviation’s 2.8% global CO2 emissions also included significant contrails and soot pollution challenges.

Decathlon, a leader in sports equipment and apparel, is stepping up to address shoe pollution with its innovative mono-material shoes, designed for more efficient recycling. Shoe pollution poses a major environmental challenge. Millions of discarded shoes, made from a mix of materials, end up in landfills each year. These materials release harmful substances as they slowly decompose.

The recycling industry faces significant challenges, particularly in accurately sorting and recycling mixed waste streams. This is especially important for food-grade post-consumer recycled. Innovations such as digital watermarks and fluorescent markers offer promising solutions to these challenges, potentially revolutionizing the recycling process.

The innovative scholarship from the SPE Foundation and Brightmark meets students’ prolonged interest in plastics sustainability and circularity while addressing the workforce shortage by supporting students seeking careers in the field.

Dell Technologies partners with materials firm Covestro to expand the possibilities of laptop recycling, to include designing for disassembly and increasing the amount of recoverable resin from each device. Together they are targeting a more circular solution.

The global waste crisis continues escalating, demanding innovative solutions offering sustainable management practices. OscarPocket emerges as a cutting-edge application designed to empower individuals with the tools to sort waste accurately, thus enhancing recycling efforts and reducing environmental impact.

Nowadays, one of the harshest challenges is the development of polymeric materials for the aerospace industry. In particular, in space, engineers encounter challenging conditions. High levels of radiation (UV and solar radiation), fluctuating extreme temperatures, vacuum conditions, and microgravity characterize space.

TERRA, The Electronics Reuse & Recycling Alliance, has created a network of certified electronic waste (e-waste) recyclers, and is working to recover and reclaim the valuable materials contained in those discarded products.