Dr Simon Eichhorn, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Katrin Schmidt and B.Eng. Simon Ballüer from the Thuringian Innovation Centre for Recyclable Materials (ThIWert) met with Prof. Dr.-Ing. hab. Simon Ballüer from the Thuringian Innovation Centre for Recyclable Materials (ThIWert) met with Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Anette Müller and Dipl.-Ing. Steffen Liebezeit from IAB Weimar. The focus was on future collaboration within the ThIWert specialist group and a tour of the new processing technology centre at IAB Weimar, which has extensive equipment in the areas of shredding, classification, agglomeration and sorting.

As a partner of ThIWert, the IAB Weimar was also equipped with appropriate equipment as part of the funding from the Free State of Thuringia, and the Nordhausen colleagues were able to see how it works on site. The Weimar research institute has acquired a wealth of expertise in processing technology and material characteristics, making it a very valuable partner within ThIWert. In addition to a pelletising plate, the IAB Weimar also has a pellet press for producing fine and uniform pellets, which can be further processed into lightweight pellets by firing in a rotary kiln around six metres long. With maximum firing temperatures of 1350 °C, the rotary kiln forms the "hot" centrepiece of the new pilot plant, which is located in the new building of the IAB recycling technology centre. The key advantage of the plant is that small-scale laboratory tests can now be transferred to a semi-industrial scale.

"As the ThIWert is still being set up and is currently in the procurement phase for devices, equipment, machines and systems, an exchange of experience with a long-standing project partner like the IAB is extremely helpful in this phase," says Dipl.-Ing. Katrin Schmidt. After the COVID-19 pandemic made face-to-face dialogue impossible in recent months, everyone involved was delighted to be able to intensify the collaboration on site again. The project partners agree that when developing new building materials, the focus should be on recyclability after their utilisation phase and are working together to implement innovative solutions.

This project partnership will lead to further joint research topics in the coming years, such as the research project "Masterplan Thuringia - Resource-efficient building of the future" which was worked on by three project partners and three industrial partners from 2017 to 2020.

The ThIWert is a co-operation between the Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, the IAB Weimar and the Bauhaus University Weimar. It is funded by the Free State of Thuringia and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).