Winterthur – The Institute for Sustainable Development at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) is launching the Circulus project in the mechanical, electrical and metal industry. It is intended to show how this sector can be made more circular.
Researchers at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) initiated the Circulus project. According to a press release, the project aims to show how the mechanical and electrical engineering industries (MEM) can be made more circular. The project is being carried out jointly with the Institute for Sustainable Development (INE), the ZHAW Institute of Product Development and Production Technologies (IPP), the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE) of the Grisons University of Applied Sciences (FHGR), the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne (SIPBB) and, as implementation partners, the companies V-Zug, Thermoplan, Bystronic, Almer and the logistics coordinator Planzer Synergistics were involved. The project is supported by Innosuisse.
The project aims to show how sustainable and recyclable management can be achieved along the entire supply chain in the MEM industries. This concerns both the selection of recyclable materials and the recoverability of components or raw materials from used appliances.
"In view of a global decline in circularity from 9.1 percent in 2018 to 7.2 percent in 2023, which occurred despite circularity efforts, the motivation to select the MEM sector as Switzerland's largest industrial sector as the object of investigation and to transfer it into a circular system is justified," Maike Scherrer, Head of Sustainable Supply Chain Management at INE, is quoted in the press release. "The fact that Innosuisse has entrusted us with such an important issue means a great deal of appreciation for us." ce/ww