Wudtke, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert-B.
Welcome to the website of the Thuringian Innovation Centre for Recyclable Materials (ThIWert)a joint research centre of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, the Bauhaus University Weimar (b.is) and the Institute for Applied Building Research Weimar gGmbH (IAB).
ThIWert sees itself as a partner to Thuringian industry and commerce, as well as to regional and national research institutions, colleges and universities. In co-operation with our research partners, we solve waste disposal problems, develop new technologies and waste disposal concepts and thus create added value for the environment, people and companies in the region.
The aim of ThIWert is to build, test and optimise processes and products from recycling technology as well as complex recycling plants and their plant components in a modular design. A further task is to improve plant technology in the processing of recyclable materials and to increase added value. To achieve this, it is necessary on the one hand to optimise various units individually and on the other hand to improve the overall technology by combining the individual units in a modular way. In trials and test series, the aim is to optimise the composition of the plant technology in order to achieve the highest possible mass output combined with the best purity rates. The evaluation of the test results is based on practical data and analyses.
At the Nordhausen site, ThIWert comprises a test and research area of around 4,500 m², 680 m² of laboratory and workshop space and an office area of approx. 300 m² (expandable to 900 m²), which is currently designed for 14 workstations. Further technology and test areas are located in Weimar.
(10/2018 to 10/2023)
In the five-year, successfully connected funding period from 2018 to 2023, it was the task of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences (HSN) - together with the cooperation partners from Weimar, the Institute for Applied Building Research Weimar gGmbH (IAB) and the Bauhaus Institute for Future-Oriented Infrastructure Systems (b.is) of the Bauhaus University Weimar - to found ThIWert, build it up, equip it with research-related infrastructure and establish it nationwide in the field of recycling research.
With funding from the Free State of Thuringia and the ERDF (EU), the co-operation partners involved were able to successfully launch the "ThIWert as a network between industry, services, research and development in the recycling industry".
Funding for the establishment of the research centre is provided by the Free State of Thuringia and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
(10/2023 to 10/2028)
After the five-year development phase, the focus of the innovation centre is on application-oriented and interdisciplinary networked research with technology transfer in the field of resource conservation and resource efficiency. In cooperation with regional, national and international partners from industry, trade and science, the ThIWert partners work and research on innovative solutions for current disposal problems and the development of new recycling and utilisation concepts. In line with the binding sustainability goals (SDGs), ThIWert's research activities actively contribute to creating added value for the environment, people and companies in the region and beyond.
In the second funding period, the ThIWert partners are continuously striving to further develop the task and research fields that deal with the challenges of the circular economy beyond recycling itself. In addition to analysing different material flows in line with the R4 approach (Rethink, Reuse, Remanufacture, Recycling), the cross-cutting topics are also included in the research fields. The focus is primarily on the digitalisation of processes in the circular economy as well as energy consumption and energy efficiency. Also included is the economic consideration of the circular resource economy, which is to be developed in close dialogue with the needs of Thuringian companies.
Funding for the expansion and further development of the research centre is provided by the Free State of Thuringia and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Under the umbrella of the Thuringian Innovation Centre for Recyclable Materials (ThIWert) the competences of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, the Institute for Applied Building Research gGmbH Weimarthe Bauhaus Institute for Future-Oriented Infrastructure Systems (b.is) Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and, where applicable, other scientific institutions in the field of recycling and the circular economy. The ThIWert is geared towards the specific market needs of the local and national economy and bundles research, product and process development according to the requirements in the specialisation field of "resource efficiency". Furthermore, the scientific focal points of the participating research and project partners are continuously developed further.
Over the past 20 years, the HSN has made a name for itself in research and teaching in the field of materials recycling and the circular economy. From the outset, it has taken account of the growing role of the associated technologies with the Technical Remediation and later Land and Materials Recycling degree programmes and with the current Environmental and Recycling Technology (URT) degree programme and has established a qualified range of courses in the field of environmental and recycling technology. The programme is designed to provide students with basic process engineering training in the development, planning and operation of environmental and recycling technology systems. The degree programme also includes the topics of environmental protection, the extraction of secondary raw materials and the generation of energy from waste - for example from biowaste. The HSN attaches great importance to application-orientated, interdisciplinary and networked research with technology transfer.
In addition to the further development and optimisation of recycling technologies, an important focus of work is the interdisciplinary and overall societal view. Numerous interdisciplinary issues from the fields of information technology, measurement and control technology, automation technology and design need to be addressed. The question of how citizens in Germany can be integrated into the recycling transition process through further training measures will also be an important task for resource research in the coming years.
The Institute for Applied Building Research Weimar gGmbH (IAB) was created on 1 January 2012 from the merger of two Weimar-based business-related research institutions - the Institut für Fertigteiltechnik Weimar gGmbH and the Forschungsinstitut für Tief- und Rohleitungsbau gGmbH. Today, the IAB employs 118 people from various disciplines. IAB Weimar gGmbH is equipped to provide all services from raw material analysis, material development and material testing to recycling. In the field of materials development and testing, the spectrum includes concrete (special concrete, fibre concrete, high-performance concrete, polymer concrete, wood concrete), mortar, plaster, tile adhesive, screed, floor mortar, backfill building materials, sand-lime brick, aerated concrete, gypsum, ceramics, calcined clays, loam, lightweight granulates, new materials from secondary raw materials (building rubble, ash, sewage sludge, slag).
IAB recycling technology centre - a building block for the ThIWert
Last year, the new recycling technology centre was inaugurated at the IAB. It was funded by the Free State of Thuringia and co-financed by the European Union as part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). For the first time, the technical centre offers the opportunity to pursue the development of innovative recycling products and the use of construction waste as raw materials beyond the laboratory scale and to prepare for the transfer into practice. The centrepiece of the plant is a gas-fired pilot rotary kiln with a length of 6.0 m, diameter 0.6 m, maximum temperature 1600 °C, standard temperature 1250 °C. Further equipment includes a jaw crusher, sieving system, mill, pelletising disc, powdering system, etc.
Experience in recent years has shown that a rapid transfer of new recycling processes into practice often fails due to the lack of a multivalent reference plant. The construction of the IAB pilot plant has closed a gap in the process flow from application research to technical introduction. The new competence centre for resource efficiency covers all process steps such as crushing the construction waste, grinding, granulating and firing in the rotary kiln and is available to industrial partners for joint research activities and testing purposes.
The pictures below show views of individual IAB test sites.
Contact person:
Dr Barbara Leydolph
Phone: +49 3643 8684-145
E-Mail:
The Bauhaus Institute for Future-Oriented Infrastructure Systems (b.is) pursues, among other things, the goal of sustainable and cross-media organisation of material and energy flows. This is based on the current and future challenges of public services, which must adapt to constantly changing framework conditions. A symbiotic, more efficient and cooperative use of the respective infrastructures harbours completely new options for water and organic management, which are then largely raw material-recovering, more adaptable and, above all, cycle-oriented. In addition to general expertise in the areas of resource and urban water management, expertise in newer concepts and systems has been built up. The core interest is the utilisation of the resources and energy tied up in organic waste streams and the corresponding practical issues, which are approached at both a theoretical and practical level. Aspects of the transition to new infrastructure systems, concept and method development as well as technical realisation including prototype development are interlinked in order to build up strategic knowledge for action.
The b.is laboratories and pilot plants at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar are equipped to carry out traditional waste and urban water management analyses, such as COD, BOD, TOC and Kjeldahl nitrogen determinations in wastewater and sludge treatment or determining the degree of decomposition in biological waste treatment. This includes the necessary digestion and treatment processes. As the focus is now on mapping the entire value chain, the technology has been adapted and expanded to include bioreactors (anaerobic, continuous and batch), aquatic systems (macroalgae and hydrophytes), climate chambers for simulating various environmental conditions, test rigs for grey water treatment (membranes, trickling filters) and electrocoagulation as well as analytical equipment for material characterisation and process assessment (ion chromatography, elemental analysis, AOX and, in development, GC-MS and PCR).
This direction is to be further expanded in the course of the ThIWert, for example to include in-depth microbiological considerations of the consortia involved in the processes.
The following research areas are being addressed within the ThIWert programme:
Contact person:
Dr Thomas Haupt
Phone: +49 3643 / 58 4650
E-Mail: thomas.haupt[at]uni-weimar.de
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