WASTE DISPOSAL AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY

In the Competence Center for Waste Disposal and Circular Economy We support small and medium-sized enterprises in the private and public sectors in the areas of waste disposal and sorting, as well as manufacturers and operators of plants for the material or energy recycling and processing of all types of waste.

Against the backdrop of the energy transition and the associated goal of replacing fossil fuels and raw materials in product life cycles, the recycling of secondary raw materials is becoming increasingly important. This is due, on the one hand, to the requirement to reduce _CO2 emissions; on the other hand, the resulting increase in the purchase price for fossil raw materials will lead to greater economic efficiency in the use of waste as a raw material.

An important approach here is the increased use of sorted waste to reuse it in a true cycle according to its chemical composition. A good example of this is the recycling of PET, where this approach is already being implemented in many products.

In addition to material reuse, the energetic use of waste will also become increasingly important in the future. Instead of today's incineration plants, which are also subject to _CO2 emission reduction requirements, new technologies are increasingly being used that utilize waste for both energy and chemical purposes. Such plants can then also be used to generate hydrogen from waste, giving the waste management industry an additional overlap with the energy industry that goes far beyond the use of district heating. Hydrogen produced from waste can make a significant contribution in many ways to the transition of the energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable and sustainable energy sources.

All these developments will be of great importance to the companies in the Waste disposal and circular economy This will not only mean technological realignment, but also the expertise of employees will have to change and adapt. In the future, this industry will increasingly require scientists and engineers from the fields of chemistry, process engineering, or energy and plant engineering. Given the current shortage of skilled workers and managers, we support these companies in building up their staffing levels of expertise by selecting suitable employees.