Revamped plastics recycling chain

Today’s waste, tomorrow’s valuable resource

06-Mar-2024 - These days, the majority of consumable and everyday items are made from petroleum-based plastic. In Germany alone, some six million tons of plastic waste are generated every year. Approximately half of this is mechanically recycled into new materials; the rest is used for energy recovery. ...

Better recycling of plastic packaging: New process extracts fragrances

Environmentally compatible and climate-friendly recycling for high-quality "post-consumer" recyclates

25-Apr-2023 - What doesn't smell good is hard to recycle. This simple rule also applies to the growing volume of plastic waste worldwide. One way to recycle it in an environmentally compatible and climate-friendly manner as high-quality post-consumer recyclates is through improved sorting and reprocessing. ...

New possibilities for data acquisition

Spin-off Altosens launches Fraunhofer technology on the market

18-Apr-2023 - Whether in the industrial environment, in mobility or at home: "Smart services" require data that is processed and evaluated. Altosens GmbH, a Fraunhofer LBF spin-off from Osnabrück founded in April 2022, offers novel cloud-based force sensors that measure forces where this was previously not ...

Flexible bonding: hard and soft at the same time

04-Jan-2018 - To connect components with each other, gluing is preferred today instead of welding, riveting or using screws. That makes cars, planes and agricultural machines lighter. The requirements placed on the adhesive are high, though: it has to be flexible enough to compensate for stress peaks in the ...

Fraunhofer LBF investigates recycling of halogen-free flame retardant

17-Feb-2016 - Zero plastics to landfill increases the need to mechanical recycling of plastics. This also applies to flame retardant plastics which are increasingly formulated with halogen-free flame retardants. According to EU regulations, plastic waste recycling is to increase in quality, and recycling rates ...