Industry Insights—Videos

Current questions—substantial answers: international experts about the IFAT impact panel discussion

The new IFAT impact series was kicked off by a top-level panel of experts discussing “Environmental technologies in times of the coronavirus and beyond: accelerators for an ecologically sustainable economy.”

Recycling Construction Material

Building site, road construction or demolition waste: Wherever there is construction and renovation, waste is generated. Over half of all waste in Germany is produced by construction. Natural resources such as sand or gravel are becoming scarce. This makes it increasingly important to extract new raw materials from old building materials and integrate them back into the economic cycle.

The difficulty: Only less recycled material is being reused. Recycling companies are reaching their limits and are asking for intensive educational work concerning their certified material. The political framework conditions must be created in order to use the recycled material.

In the film architects of Werner Sobek Group shows their flagship project built up by completely recycled material. The Institute of Applied Construction Research is working for recycling technology to produce light granulates and UBA explains, what measures could increase the demand for recycled building materials on the market.

Beer brewed from Wastewater

Turn wastewater into drinking water? Xylem has the solution and is developing it with the Technical University Munich. Together they are working on a process to treat wastewater and turn it back into drinking water. In this way, wastewater could be used again as a reliable resource.

Sponge City

Increasing weather extremes are causing global cities to rethink. Heavy rainfall, flooding and longer periods of heat are becoming a challenge. Berlin has founded its own rainwater agency for this purpose. It is located at the water utilities and is intended to support administration, planners and citizens in the implementation of new rainwater management. The aim is to make Berlin more water-sensitive and climate-adapted.

Biogas in City Cleaning

All cities must face the challenges of climate change. Berlin has a pioneering role to play. Here, the city's cleaning department uses waste from the organic waste bin to contribute to greater sustainability. It obtains its “green” fuel, biomethane, in one of the most modern biogas plants in the world. Wilhelm Winkelmann, head of the biogas plant of the Berliner Stadtreinigung, explains the processes of the biogas plant.

Environmental Impact in Recovering Phosphorus

Sewage sludge collects pollutants, but also nutrients, energy and minerals. These also include phosphorus. This finite resource must be recovered and recycled. The new Sewage Sludge Ordinance stipulates that by 2029, for example, 50% of the phosphorus demand must be recovered from wastewater.

Innovation for an ecologically sustainable economy

The start-up Ecofario has declared war on microplastics.