Title awarding university: Leibniz University Hannover

Cooperation: University of Applied Sciences Vechta/Diepholz (PHWT)

Title of the doctoral project Evaluation of recycling and manufacturing processes considering existing energy flows and provision of the significant process parameters for sustainability assessments

Short description of the doctoral project: Achieving the economic optimum dominates activities in plastics processing as well. A decisive starting point are the shortest possible cycle times, which are achieved by increased use of energy in the form of high melt temperatures and holding pressures combined with maximum cooling capacity. Against the background of legal requirements for the sustainability assessment of manufactured goods and the growing environmental awareness of the public, it is important to consider a product, and thus its manufacturing process, from an ecological perspective as well. To do this, it is essential to be able to describe the environmental impact of a product over its life cycle. In order to identify possible optimization potentials in the processing and recycling of plastics compared to the current state of the art, the energy flows present in the processes are methodically investigated as part of the doctoral thesis. These will then be used to determine and provide the process parameters that are significant for the sustainability assessment.