Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPECCPE Institutes in Focus: Meet Fraunhofer UMSICHT
What does it take to make plastics truly circular? It requires more than recycling – it means rethinking materials, processes, products and entire systems. Meet Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, bringing its expertise in advanced recycling, circular design and sustainability assessment to the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE.
Institute and Expertise
Fraunhofer UMSICHT contributes expertise in advanced recycling, circular design, sustainability and life cycle assessment as well as circular plastics systems – connecting technological solutions with environmental and economic perspectives.
Research Departments
UMSICHT contributes across three CCPE Research Departments:
The department develops innovative recycling technologies for recovering valuable resources from complex plastic waste streams. UMSICHT contributes expertise in chemical recycling and pyrolysis, [MH1.1][MH1.2]complementing mechanical recycling and enabling the recovery of valuable chemical feedstocks.
Circular Logistics and Sustainability
The department focuses on material flows and assessing the environmental and economic performance of circular solutions. UMSICHT contributes its expertise in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), material flow analysis and sustainability assessment.
The department transfers circular solutions into practical applications and demonstrators. UMSICHT contributes particularly through Circular Design, integrating circularity looking at the outside perspective. We consider material selection, durability, repairability, reuse and recyclability.
Project Spotlights
Circular Design – Rethinking Products from the Start
Circularity begins long before recycling – it starts with design. Within the CCPE, Fraunhofer UMSICHT develops Circular Design strategies for circular products. One example is the modular child seat demonstrator, combining a monomaterial approach with circular design principles, repairability and reusable components.
Recycling Cascade – Finding the Right Recycling Route
Not every plastic waste stream can be recycled in the same way. The CCPE Recycling Cascade combines solvent-based recycling, solvolysis and the iCycle® pyrolysis process to identify suitable recycling routes for challenging waste streams.
Fraunhofer UMSICHT contributes its expertise in chemical recycling and pyrolysis, helping recover valuable resources from plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically.
Together, these examples highlight UMSICHT's contribution to the CCPE – from assessing and designing circular solutions to developing technologies that recover valuable resources.