Plastics make up around a quar­ter of the materials contained in electronic waste (e-waste). The proportion that is recycled is com­paratively low - the majority is simply incinerated. The first step to improve recycling is the identification of polymer materials, so that they can be selectively sorted and processed in a way that preserves their function. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF), an institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), have now succeeded in determining the specific characterization of the main e-waste plastic types by combining multiple sensors. Applied on an industrial scale, more plastics can be optimally processed and returned to the production chain.

Three recent studies conducted with the collaboration of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, an institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), show significant progress in monitoring mining areas. At the same time, the researchers advocate the ethically guided use of artificial intelligence (AI) for Earth observation in terms of environmental protection and disas­ter prevention. Furthermore, they also have developed an AI-supported model that incorporates data obtained through remote sensing. That might represent a major step for the Earth observation community.

Interested in Critical Raw Material­s? An entire week is dedicated to this topic during 19th Freiberg Shortcourse in Economic Geology ‘Critical Raw Material­s: A Global Perspective’ with Judith Kinnaird and Paul Nex, Uni­versity of Witwatersrand, SA, from Dec 9-13th 2024 at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology

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.