10th International Circular Economy Week at the Environmental Campus in Birkenfeld

10/28/2019

200 guests from 34 countries informed themselves about the circular economy in Rhineland-Palatinate

On Friday, 25 October 2019, the 10th International Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Week ended at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld. About 200 guests from 34 countries visited the greenest university campus in Germany as well as various technology locations for a week to learn about resource efficiency, water management, decentralized energy systems, renewable energies, sustainable construction and sustainable land use.
For the tenth time, the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS), an institute based at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, invited national and international companies, universities, organizations and political decision makers to the International Circular Economy Week. The series of events is an established information and cooperation platform on the subject of recycling management. The need for holistic recycling management concepts, the underlying environmental technologies as well as sustainable financing possibilities connects the visitors of the event. The initiation of co-operations and networks within the framework of the event also creates a platform for transnational work to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.
From October 21 to 25, 2019, the guests of the International Environmental Service Week visited the zero-emissions campus Birkenfeld, the Energy Landscape Morbach, the Rhein-Hunsrück Waste Management in Kirchberg, the Trier Public Utilities Company, the Sydeme Waste Association in neighboring Lorraine, and the Central Waste Management (ZAK) in Kaiserslautern. On behalf of the state government, the international guests were welcomed by Dr. Thomas Griese, State Secretary in the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Environment, on Tuesday, 22 October 2019, in Dhaun Castle. The evening event was hosted by Rüdiger Lanz, Managing Director of the Rhineland-Palatinate LED light manufacturer Lanz Manufaktur. The highlight of the week on Wednesday, October 23, 2019, was the 10th International Conference on Recycling Management at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld. The all-day conference program highlighted the topic of recycling management from different perspectives. An international group of speakers provided information on the topics of financing, recycling management in practice, corporate success stories, education and research. During the festive evening reception following the conference, Prof. Dr. Dorit Schumann, President of the University of Applied Sciences Trier, Prof. Dr. Peter Heck, Managing Director of the IfaS and representatives of universities from India, Nigeria and Oman signed the cooperation agreement on future cooperation in research, education and the implementation of joint projects.
The International Circular Economy Week is a cooperation of the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management, the Ministry of Environment, Energy, Food and Forestry of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Greentech Metacluster of the Greater Region "GREATER GREEN" and the Rhineland-Palatinate environmental technology network Ecoliance e.V.