Future of plastics: Students create visions for 2050

Future of plastics: Students create visions for 2050

In an innovative project seminar at the Faculty of Economics, future visions for the use of high-performance plastics in refrigerators were developed. The seminar, led by Dr. Jan-Hendrik Kamlage, took place in the summer semester of 2025 and was with the EU research project Circular foam tied together. In this context, the students, including Alexander Mossell and Denise Fräbel, worked on practical group projects that incorporated methods of qualitative scenario analysis.

The seminar not only promoted technical skills, but also essential soft skills such as digital skills, self-assessment and cooperative work. These skills are crucial to mastering the challenges of the future, particularly in the areas of sustainability and recycling of plastics. The students presented their results in the form of AI-generated videos and a fictional daily newspaper that outlined visions for the year 2050.

Sustainability in focus

A central theme of the project was the development of sustainable solutions for plastics processing. The research project Carbon Cycle Lab (CCLab) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology deals with the chemical recycling of plastic waste. The aim is to return non-recyclable waste to the material cycle. Professor Dieter Stapf underlines the urgency of recycling waste from various sources, especially in light of rising energy costs and resource scarcity, which require recycling rates to increase.

In 2023, around 414 million tonnes of plastics were produced worldwide, with the recycling rate being only 10%. In order to meet the EU targets, an additional 10 million tonnes of plastics should be recycled annually by 2035. Given that Germany is responsible for a third of Europe's plastic production, significant improvements are needed in the recycling sector.

Cooperation for climate protection

The need for greater cooperation between associations in the plastics industry, mechanical engineering and waste disposal industries is also highlighted. A current position paper, supported by Plastics Europe Germany and other organizations, calls for recycling to be promoted and effective measures to be implemented to promote the circular economy. These include, among other things, product design that is suitable for recycling, the expansion of disposal and recycling structures and an EU-wide ban on landfilling plastic waste.

The innovative strength of the German packaging industry is reflected in the goal of making 90% of packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. However, this requires clear political frameworks and a more precise implementation of recycling strategies across the EU.

The presentation of the seminar results will take place on October 8, 2025 at the Power Plant Technology Colloquium at the Technical University of Dresden. This further builds a bridge between academic training and practical applications in the field of sustainable plastics technology.