On 10 March 2021, the advisory board members of the WiR! alliance "Gypsum Recycling - Opportunity for the Southern Harz" met for their second advisory board meeting to discuss the current status of previous and planned projects. Employees from the Jülich project management organisation and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the funding body, were also present. While the team from Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences - Prof Dr Ariane Ruff (head of the WIR! alliance), Jana Henning-Jacob (research associate of the WIR! alliance) and Dr Kareen Schlangen (innovation coach of the WIR! alliance) met together in strict compliance with the protective measures, all other participants took part online from their respective locations, such as Weimar, Ellrich, Berlin, Erfurt, etc.

The positive endorsement of further projects by the advisory board catalyses the project to the next stage. The goal of extracting recycled gypsum effectively and efficiently and making it marketable at some point is thus a step closer.

Since 2018, the WiR! Alliance "Gypsum Recycling - Opportunity for the Southern Harz". Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, in particular the Thuringian Innovation Centre for Recyclable Materials (ThIWert) under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ariane Ruff, Casea GmbH from Ellrich and the Bauhaus University Weimar with the Finger Institute (FIB) are actively working as initial partners on the following goal: increasing the proportion of recycled gypsum (RC gypsum) to conserve natural gypsum reserves and provide for future gypsum requirements - starting with the collection and logistical recycling of gypsum-containing material flows, through their technological processing using separation and sorting techniques, to the utilisation of RC gypsum using new product formulations. The basis of this objective is the development and consolidation of sustainable innovation structures in the southern Harz region through a self-organised network of various stakeholders - a WIR! alliance.

These initial partners are supported by many other regional and national companies, such as Dyckerhoff GmbH with its plant in Deuna, or K-UTEC AG Sondershausen and research institutions, such as the MFPA - Materials Research and Testing Institute in Weimar. Seven research projects are currently working towards the major goal of this alliance. New projects are being launched step by step, focussing on further research questions. In addition to the initial partners and other project participants, there is also an advisory board consisting of eight experts from the gypsum industry. Its task is to objectively and professionally assess the planned projects. In the best-case scenario, a recommendation is made regarding funding and thus the realisation of the projects.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) via the "WIR! - Wandel durch Innovation in der Region" programme.