About us
The Circular Economy - Efficient Use of Valuable Resources
Renewable energy sources and smart cities.
Source: iStock
From copper cables to lithium batteries, metal and mineral raw materials play a vital role in our living environment. The demand for these resources in terms of quantity and diversity is increasing, especially for technologies in our everyday lives such as communication, but also renewable energy supply and electromobility require a large amount of critical raw materials. However, the provision of these resources faces global challenges, which is why a sustainable circular economy is needed.
With the goal of identifying innovative solutions for the circular economy, HIF researchers take a transdisciplinary approach to questions relating to raw materials in the disciplines of exploration, characterization, processing, metallurgy, recycling, modeling, and systems analysis. In this way, we develop new solutions for the circular economy to promote the careful and economical use of mineral and metal-containing raw materials.
Our Mission
We are a key enabler for a sustainable circular economy of minerals and metals. We achieve this by:
- creating and providing fundamental understanding about raw materials, processes, and systems;
- developing innovative technologies and systems for raw material extraction and use;
- quantifying possibilities and limits of the circular economy;
- developing new solutions in collaboration with society, stakeholders and decision makers.
