How excellent cluster work paved the way for the "Materials Forum of the Future"

Forum Director Michael Tesch (from left), Managing Director Stefan Schmidt and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Matthias Poschmann at the presentation of the grant notification from Minister Neubaur in Düsseldorf

© MWIKE NRW

As the initiator and consortium leader of the "Materials Forum of the Future" project, Lüdenscheid Centre of Competence for Surface Technology and Plastics and its partners officially received the grant award from the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister for Economics, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy, Mona Neubaur, at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Düsseldorf in January 2024. The funding of over EUR 6.3 million comes from the 5-location programme, with which the state governments in Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, Hamm, Herne and the district of Unna want to support the transformation from a coal-fired power plant location to an innovative, sustainable and future-proof region. The "Materials Forum of the Future" is intended to help strengthen the circular economy and make the value chains in the plastics sector sustainable and fit for the future, making it an important regional building block for the transformation to a climate-neutral economy.

Survey lays the foundation for the project idea

The initiative for the project came from "go-cluster" member Lüdenscheid Centre of Competence for Surface Technology and Plastics. At the request and with the help of funding from the members of the cluster, the position of environmental scout was created, which has been held by Hanna Steffen since 2021. She acts as a central point of contact for all members on the topic of sustainability and the environment and initiated a large, digital survey among the network partners to find out their needs on the topic and the biggest challenges facing the industry. The result: In addition to the energy transition with the initially associated higher energy costs, the use of recyclable materials and their sources of supply as well as the identification of possible material alternatives, e.g. bioplastics, were named as the biggest external challenges facing the industry. Another point mentioned by the companies was the expected shortage of skilled workers in this segment. "The poor image of the plastics industry is contributing to the fact that more and more students and school pupils across Germany are avoiding plastics technology," was the concern of many companies. It was clear to everyone that this problem can only be solved together through cross-industry cooperation.

Birth of the "Materials Forum of the Future"

Lüdenscheid Centre of Competence for Surface Technology and Plastics positioned itself as the "coordinator and antenna" of this challenge and wanted to tackle it as part of a new project. To this end, the cluster brought together raw material and machine manufacturers, processors, the circular economy and environmental organisations through targeted "cross-clustering". They discussed questions such as: Where does the use of plastic make sense and where not? How can renewable raw materials be used? How can waste be avoided and undesirable developments in the plastics industry be corrected?

Michael Tesch | Project Manager | Lüdenscheid Centre of Competence for Surface Technology and Plastics "As the consortium leader of the "Materials Forum of the Future", we are very proud that we have succeeded in bringing the project to life. It will rethink the use of plastics in Schwerte in a unique collaboration between the plastics industry, the circular economy and environmental organisations."

The idea of the "Material Form of the Future" was born – a central point of contact for companies, developers and waste disposal companies, which identifies opportunities for ecological and economic action. A central element of the forum will be a seal of qualitythat will provide information on whether the holistic and sustainable value chain has been considered, that evaluates technical material flows, and that confirms the processability of materials, recyclability and the sensible use of substitutes as well as their ability to be recirculated and CO₂ reduction.
Over the next four years, the institute's six-strong team will work with partners from industry, local authorities and environmental organisations to pursue a comprehensive work plan that will enable new materials to be used in new applications, plastic products to be better recycled, plastic products to be better classified in terms of their environmental compatibility and recycling rates to be increased.
The project will therefore be able to make a significant contribution to ensuring that climate neutrality becomes a reality and that the motto: "Plastic only where plastic makes sense" is actually implemented.