Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPECCPE Institutes in Focus: Meet Fraunhofer ICT
What does it take to make plastics truly circular? It requires more than recycling – it means developing circular materials, tailored formulations and high-performance applications. Meet Fraunhofer ICT, bringing its expertise in recycling technologies, polymer processing, lightweight materials and circular product development to the Fraunhofer CCPE.
Institute and Expertise
Fraunhofer ICT combines expertise in recycling technologies, material processing and lightweight applications. Within the CCPE, the institute contributes both to the development of advanced recycling processes and to the transfer of circular material concepts into practical applications and demonstrators.
Research Departments
Advanced Recycling
Developing advanced process technologies to recover valuable polymers and monomers from challenging plastic waste streams. Fraunhofer ICT contributes expertise in recycling pre-treatment, shredding and separation as well as chemical recycling processes. Its infrastructure includes technologies for odour and impurities removal, recyclate compounding and solvolysis.
Application and Demonstration
Translating circular material concepts into practical, industry-relevant applications and demonstrators. Fraunhofer ICT contributes expertise in polymer processing, process development and lightweight materials, including recyclable UD tapes, sustainable foams and monomaterials.
Project Spotlights
CircularInFoam – Sustainable Insulation Materials
Can sustainable polymers deliver high performance without compromising fire safety?
In CircularInFoam, Fraunhofer ICT investigates the industrial processability and foamability of sustainable PLA-based formulations and their influence on mechanical properties. Together with Fraunhofer LBF and IBP, the project combines sustainable materials, halogen-free flame retardants and scalable processing for next-generation insulation materials.
scPLA-UD-Tape – Monomaterials for Circular Lightweight Applications
Can high-performance lightweight materials be designed for easier recycling?
In scPLA-UD-Tape, Fraunhofer ICT contributes to the development of highly resilient UD tapes based on stereocomplex PLA. The reinforcement fibers and polymer matrix are based on the same material, creating a monomaterial composite that does not require complex separation steps during recycling. ICT focuses on the challenging tape manufacturing and processing, including fiber-matrix adhesion and the optimization of mechanical properties.
Together, these examples highlight Fraunhofer ICT’s contribution to the CCPE – from advanced recycling technologies to the development and processing of monomaterial solutions for circular applications.