Fraunhofer is the leading organization for applied research in Europe, undertaking contract research on behalf of industry, the service sector and government. At present, its research activities are conducted by 76 institutes and research units at locations throughout Germany. A total business volume of around €3.4 billion is generated mostly by contract research by a staff of about thirty-two thousand employees. The Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV will participate in this project, and it has three hundred and thirty-two employees and an operating budget of € 32,4 million.
The Fraunhofer IVV develops and optimizes products and processes primarily in the business fields of food, packaging, product performance, processing machinery, recycling and environment. The department ‘Process Development of Polymer Recycling’ at Fraunhofer IVV has been founded in2005 and deals with the separation of pure polymers from plastic containing waste by means of mechanical pre-treatment and physical dissolution using CreaSolv® formulations.
Fraunhofer IVV Role in Multimold
The MULTIMOLD (Multi-functional In-Mould Electronics) project aims at developing an innovative manufacturing process for durable, recyclable and multifunctional electronic products based on the principle of "circularity by design". Fraunhofer IVV leads the tasks 3.2 and 3.3 in work package three “Sustainable materials by design”, to clarify the best physical debonding strategy for the different test specimens. Dissolution tests will involve duration and completeness of dissolution, inertness versus non adhesive plastic materials, and checks of technical ways for separation of both debonded phases.
Furthermore, the recyclability of materials from solvent-based debonding trials will be identified in the MULTIMOLD project. Several physicochemical and mechanical testing with the re-granulated plastics will be performed. The dissolution-based recycling process is a patented Fraunhofer technology that in MULTIMOLD will be adapted to specific test specimens to improve the recyclability of these materials.
Fraunhofer IVV – Member of the project
Martin Schlummer has been working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Enginnering and Packaging IVV since 1999. He started as an Environmental Chemist and got a PhD from FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg for his work on recycling plastics from electronic scrap. Today, he manages the Business Field ‘Recycling and Environment’ and is Deputy Head of the department ‘Process Development Polymer Recycling’.
.jpeg)
Laura Strobl successfully completed her studies in mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences of Landshut in 2017.As a scientist and project manager she has been working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV for more than five years. Laura conducts research in the recycling of plastic mix waste streams, like WEEE, ELV and C&DW, with the solvent-based recycling process.
.jpeg)
Thomas Zimmermann studied Materials Science at the University of Augsburg, of which he graduated with a master’s degree in 2022. He has been working as Scientific Associate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV for approximately two years, researching the dissolution-based recycling of post-consumer PVC flooring, as well as the recovery of active black matter from postindustrial battery cathode foil scrap.
