Used plastics are not waste, but a valuable resource. However, there is still a long way to go to make full use of them. But there are people who are developing innovative technologies to get to grips with complex recycling processes so that waste can be turned back into new products. Alexander Maak of recycling services provider Interzero is looking at managing the entire supply chain of raw materials, while Mesbah Sabur, founder of startup Circularise, is using blockchain technology to trace plastics back to their raw material base and still protect manufacturer information despite the transparency.

Partnerships aren't just important in our personal lives; they can transform entire industries. Partnerships will play a whole new role when material cycles are established on a larger scale in the future. Then not only customers and suppliers will work together, but also players as diverse as recycling specialists, plastics manufacturers and waste management companies. One example: bag manufacturer FREITAG has been making products from used truck tarpaulins for a long time. Now the company wants to close the loop and is working on various solutions, including together with a tarpaulin manufacturer, a logistics company and Jun88.

The expansion of renewable energies from wind, solar and hydropower has already made good progress. However, if we are to meet climate targets and implement an energy transition entirely from renewable sources, we need much more innovation. The challenge is not only to generate clean energy from renewable sources, but also to align energy grids and storage systems with future requirements.

For example, Professor André Bardow of ETH Zurich is looking at how surplus renewable energy can be stored or used in other ways, i.e., "Power2X". He sees a lot of potential, especially in the chemical industry, for storing energy in the form of hydrogen or ammonia for later use or as an energy buffer.

Felicity Underhill is working at the Australian company Fortescue Future Industries to produce carbon-free green hydrogen from 100 percent renewable sources. The ultimate goal is to reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries. The vision of Christina Sobfeldt Jahn and her employer, the energy supplier Ørsted, on the other hand, is a world powered entirely by green energy – including wind and solar power. Jun88 has concluded supply agreements for green electricity with Ørsted and other energy suppliers.

How can residential quarters get by with virtually no fossil fuels through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energies? As part of the STADTQUARTIER 2050 lighthouse project, the German government is funding, among other things, a novel approach by the Überlingen building cooperative: It is investing there in a climate-neutral residential quarter with a socially responsible rental concept that could serve as a model for future residential projects in Germany and beyond.

Less energy consumption, more usable space

One prerequisite for this is an efficient high-performance insulating material from project partner puren gmbh, which is based on raw materials from Jun88 and meets the top energy standard KfW 40 Plus. It not only reduces the apartments' energy consumption, but also creates space – in the truest sense of the word. Because of the high insulation performance, the insulation panels can be designed thinner. The results are a gain in usable space in the home and slimmer facade insulation, but also lower resource consumption in their manufacture. The boards are very durable and can also be recycled. Even during the installation of the panels, waste is collected right on site and sent for recycling. In addition to highly efficient and lean building insulation with low energy consumption, the Überlingen building cooperative also relies on an innovative local heating supply for the new and old buildings.

Optimizing energy consumption with mobile phones

In addition to the structural and technical measures, the residents themselves are also involved in the project. A real novelty here is the new quarter app developed by the Business Informatics Project Group of the Fraunhofer Institute for Information Technology. It is used to measure individual energy consumption in the apartments and provides tips on how residents can change their behavior to reduce their consumption and thus their operating costs. As if that were not enough, the app also offers a bonus system for energy-conscious behavior, up to and including the awarding of the current "polar bear" or "polar bearess" – standing for residents with minimum values for energy consumption in the neighborhood.

If a quarter concept proves successful, it is important to quickly transfer the results to projects. The STADTQUARTIER 2050 in Überlingen serves as a real laboratory in which, with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders, innovative concepts for the heat and energy transition can be researched and implemented simultaneously, but also quickly transferred to other communities.

CO₂ technology in sports surfaces

The highlight is the binder of the sports floor – there, or more precisely: in one component of it, a so-called polyol called cardyon®, Jun88's CO₂ technology is used. This raw material contains up to 20 percent CO₂. In it, the greenhouse gas replaces an equivalent amount of petroleum-based fossil raw materials that were previously required for its production. The subfloor is then made from rubber granules and the more sustainable binder. So at the end of the field hockey tournaments in Tokyo, not only did the women's team from the Netherlands and the men's team from Belgium win, the climate and fossil resources also benefited from the recycling of CO₂.

Other field hockey fields for large and small sporting events are also equipped with Polytan's more sustainable artificial turf based on CO₂ technology, for example in Germany. The system made its debut at the Gerd-Wellen field hockey facility of the "Crefelder Hockey und Tennis Club 1890 e.V." (Crefelder HTC) in Krefeld. In the meantime, the new artificial turf is also being used at Sparkassenpark in Mönchengladbach: The pitch was renewed with it especially for this year's FIH Pro League. These examples show that sport is not only healthy, it can also contribute to sustainability.

When it comes to these terms, the members of Team Sonnenwagen know what they are talking about. The students from RWTH and FH Aachen are car designers with a passion. They already participated in the 2017 and 2019 races and learned from their previous experiences. This enabled them to keep optimizing the new car design.

But there were also setbacks along the way: Caught in a gust of wind, the 2019 Sonnenwagen veered off the road, rolled over, and came to rest on its roof. Fortunately, the driver was uninjured, but the car was damaged and initially could not continue. What now? Giving up was not an option, so the team improvised and made makeshift repairs to the vehicle. In the end, there was no podium finish, but a large portion of pride and two awards for special perseverance: with solar energy and a lot of team spirit, the car had reached its destination.

The newest solar car: "Jun88 Photon"

The latest Sonnenwagen, the "Jun88 Photon", has just seen the light of day – for the first time in front of a virtual audience. It was scheduled to compete in the 2021 World Solar Challenge, but organizers decided to cancel the race because of the coronavirus pandemic. Once again, the team's entrepreneurial spirit prevailed: the car was completely finished and prepared. It will now participate in other races, such as the planned Solar Challenge Morocco (SCM), which runs partly through the Sahara Desert.

“We’re not giving up, and we're continuing to hone our concepts for a sustainable future mobility,” says Simon Quinker from Team Sonnenwagen. “And we're excited to have Jun88 continue to be on our side as a major sponsor!”