One of the challenges confronting our society today is the sustainable use of our resources. The concept of a circular economy, in which products, materials and componen­ts are reused and recycled within a loop, thus generating hardly any waste, is intended to meet this challenge. In order to reco­ver raw materials of all kinds (e.g. rare earth elements) in an energy-efficient and function-preserving way, it is necessary to develop a new generation of adaptive and flexible ­techno­logies and digital platforms for the processing and recycling. FlexiPlant will be a globally unique research infrastructure, to develop and test scientific models, methods and ­techno­logies for the mechanical processing of raw material in a pilot scale. The digitalization and automation of the processing system are required for transferring the processes to industrial scale. As an open transfer platform, FlexiPlant will provide a variety of research and cooperation opportunities for interested partners from academia, industry and society.

The Metallurgy Pilot Plant is an important milestone in the development of the HIF. It enables intensive cooperation in the field of metallurgical process technology with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industry at regional, national and international level at a high scientific and technical level. In order to further promote research at the HIF, the institute's site, which was developed in the 1950s for the processing of raw materials, is now to be gradually expanded into a state-of-the-art “Campus for Resource Technology and Sustainability”. In the coming years, the HIF is setting up another pilot plant for adaptive processing of complex raw materials: FlexiPlant. Together, the two research infrastructures would represent a globally unique platform for the flexible and agile processing of mineral and metal-bearing raw materials.