The Baden-Württemberg Council of Ministers has set up a think tank for "Industrial Resource Strategies". "The think tank, which is unique in Germany, is intended to provide impulses in questions of raw materials and resource efficiency, to point out potential solutions and to recognize trends. He advises politics and industry on a scientific basis and is to a certain extent a pilot into the future, "says Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann.

The think-tank should drive the efficient use of resources in production: "For Baden-Württemberg as a resource-poor country with a high proportion of industrial value added, the sparing use of raw materials and the recovery of resources from waste is an environmental and economic-strategic key issue", said Minister for Environmental Affairs Franz Untersteller. For this reason, ideas and concepts are to emerge that make the business location of Baden-Württemberg more flexible and independent of raw material imports and geopolitical crises. "Our companies thus have more influence on the largest cost factor in the production process, the material costs," said Untersteller.

The project is located at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The Institute for Industrial Production (IIP) will focus on the circular economy and resource efficiency throughout the value chain. Above all, the circular economy is to be conceived and analyzed holistically in order to achieve a more efficient selection of materials, higher collection and recycling rates and a reduction in the use of resources. This will be achieved through system analysis, user integration and acceptance, assessment and advice on financial incentive systems, operational process optimization, decision support methods and new business models. Furthermore, the effects of major technical and social trends and transformation processes with their effects on resource requirements, efficiency and utilization will be examined.

Initially, the think tank "Industrial Resource Strategies" is set to run for four years. He is financed by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the following participating companies and associations so far: AUDI AG, Badische Stahlwerke GmbH, Carl Zeiss AG, Daimler AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Scholz Recycling GmbH, SchwörerHaus KG, Umicore AG & Co. KG, Association of the Chemical Industry e.V. Landesverband Baden-Württemberg, Zeller + Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG. If you are interested in participating, feel free to contact us.

Further information:

Press release of the Ministerium für Umwelt, Klima und Energiewirtschaft Baden-Württemberg 

Press release of KIT 

KIT.audio: The Research Podcast, about the Think Tank "Industrial Resource Strategies (only in German)