Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT
Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT

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Business Unit Environment

Service Portfolio

Our service portfolio includes consulting, applied studies, innovative technology development up to pilot plant scale as well as support of the technical implementation at industrial scale. We provide clear communication paths with a central contact person who looks across our business units for the ideal solution for the customers' demands and who supports the joint realization. We deliver basics for strategic decisions; we improve competitiveness through optimization of energy flows, raw material flows, and waste streams, through sustainability assessments and through ­optimization of processes and plants. We as a reliable and strong partner for our customers are willing to establish long-term business partnerships.

Research and Development Services

  • Sustainability and resource strategies for business and politics
  • Analysis of complex energy and raw materials supply systems (systems analysis) in order to support business policy/political decisions
  • State-specific, industry-specific and company-specific strategies and concepts for the supply with primary and secondary raw materials
  • Concepts, processes, and products for
    • Recycling, utilization of residues
    • Recovery and generation of reusable materials and critical raw materials
    • Removal of pollutants and recovery of reusable materials from (waste) water
    • Removal of pollutants from waste gases
  • Development, engineering, erection, and operation of plants and technologies for recycling, (waste) water treatment, and reduction of emissions at various orders of scale (testing plants, demonstration plants, industrial scale implementation)
  • Scientific-technical support in the implementation of new technologies in practice
  • Economic feasibility studies for processes, methods, and products
  • Preparation of eco-assessments and sustainability assessments in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14040/14044 for products, processes and services
  • Customer-tailored safety and hazardous material management software
  • Analytics services with problem-oriented assessment and action recommendations
  • Stakeholder and dialog processes

Markets and Industries

  • The Public sector
  • Industrial facility management
  • Manufacturing industry and plant construction
  • Waste disposal, circular economy, and recycling
  • Raw materials industry
  • Energy supply (incl. the supply of heat and cold)
  • Water supply and waste water disposal
  • Engineering and planning offices

Projects from the Environment Business Unit

 

© Fraunhofer UMSICHT

CLEANTAN®

Environmentally-friendly tanning

Environmentally friendly, sustainable and cost-effective: New plant and process technology reduces leather tanning costs and completely eliminates the production of chromium-contaminated wastewater.

more about CLEANTAN®
 

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fibrEx

Filters for textile microfibers

The development of a filter module for washing machines is intended to reduce microplastic emissions from textiles during washing in order to protect the environment. During development, bio-based materials and biological models will particularly be taken into account.

more about firbrEx
 

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FungiFacturing

Mushroom based sound insulation

Fraunhofer UMSICHT is researching sound absorbers that are produced on the basis of fungal mycelium and feed on plant residues.

more about FungiFacturing
 

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iMulch

Identification and quantification of plastic films used in agriculture

Method development for the identification and quantification of microplastics and agricultural plastics in soils and their effect on soil ecosystems, with focus on mulch films.

more about iMulch
 

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LUZI

Laboratory for urban future issues and innovations

In the Laboratory for Urban Futures and Innovation, or LUZI for short, a transdisciplinary empirical investigation is being conducted in a creative environment into how and by which target groups a Maker Space can function sustainably.

more about LUZI
 

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PlastikBudget

Accounting of plastics in the environment

Estimation of a plastics budget and development of methods for impact assessment of plastics in the environment for life cycle assessment This is a quantitative basis for future political decision-making processes.

more about PlastikBudget
 

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SAIN

Urban agriculture - Innovation

Fraunhofer UMSICHT is developing new participation concepts with partners to bring citizens and scientists together on the topic of bioeconomy.

more about SAIN
 

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SCI4climate.NRW

Research for a climate-neutral industry

SCI4climate.NRW shows ways towards a climate-neutral and sustainable industry in the year 2050. Cross-industrial solutions create synergies between different sectors.

more about SCI4climate.NRW
 

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Fraunhofer-Charta

Sovereign Value Cycles

Fraunhofer is working with a total of 14 institutes to develop a Fraunhofer Charter, which sets the guidelines for an R&D roadmap for research into sovereign value creation cycles, a new production and consumption concept.

more about Sovereign Value Cycles
 

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TyreWearMapping

Tire and road wear particles in Germany

The spread of tire and road wear particles in Germany is being investigated, modeled and presented in the "TyreWearMapping" project. The researchers use comprehensive mobility, geo and weather data from the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) for this.

more about TyreWearMapping
 

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UFoSystems

Urban Food Systems for urban supply

In UFoSystem, a stable multilateral partnership in the field of "Urban Farming / Sustainable Urban Food Production" is being established to intensify research cooperation in Central and South-Eastern European countries.

more about UFoSystems
 

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Farming the Uncanny Valley

Discourse on bioeconomy and biotechnology

In the project "Farming the Uncanny Valley - MACHT NATUR", Fraunhofer UMSICHT and its partners are developing new participation concepts to bring together citizens and scientists on the topic of bioeconomy.

more about Farming the Uncanny Valley
 

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VaFlow

Using metallic residues for energy storage

In the "VAFLOW" joint project, industrial vanadium-containing residues are processed into a quality-assured vanadium electrolyte. These are then available to operate efficient energy storage systems.

more about VaFlow
 

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Vertical Greening

Vertical greening in urban areas

Vertical greening with positive influence on urban climate and excellent noise protection properties: Novel mineral-based system can be used flexibly thanks to modular design.

more about Vertical Greening

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