The future of sustainable industrial production is based on the successful implementation of a circular economy. The implementation of circular economy is not only necessary for specific industries, but also beyond the own sector. Sustainable thinking in material cycles is necessary to avoid overproduction and to reduce resource consumption.
But what does implementation of circular economy look like in practice today? Are there already successful practical examples of the effective implementation of the circular economy in manufacturing companies? What are the strategic requirements and how can circular economy approaches be operationalized in the company?

With these questions in mind, we – INaB together with the Center for Systems Engineering (CSE), the Center for Circular Economy (CCE), the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) and the Institute for Machine Elements and System Engineering (iMSE) – started a consortium benchmarking with our consortium partners, innovation leaders from industry, in April 2022. Our goal was to identify success factors for the integration and application of the circular economy in companies and to derive recommendations for action for our consortium partners.

Within the scope of the study, 5 successful practice companies in different industries that have already taken a big step towards circular economy could be identified and awarded. These companies are Phoenix Contact, Lorenz GmbH & Co. KG, Vattenfall, Pöppelmann and d&b audiotechnik. The companies have expanded our consortium and through a joint exchange relevant issues regarding the circular economy and the implementation in the company were discussed and deepened.Projekt partners:

• • Center for Systems Engineering CSE
  • Center for Circular Economy CCE
  • Werkzeugmaschinenlabor WZL
  • Institut für Maschinenelemente und Systementwicklung iMSE

Project duration:
April 2022 – March 2023

Contact:
Anna Luthin M.Sc.
E-Mail: anna.luthin@inab.rwth-aachen.de
Tel.: +49 241 80 229 98