Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Is it possible to recover plastic recyclates from previously unused waste streams in order to produce high-quality fibers and films? How can bio-based polymer fibers be manufactured so as to allow adjustable biodegradability? These are the questions being addressed by researchers from the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE in the Zirk-Tex project. As an alternative to mechanical processes, they are jointly developing innovative recycling methods for the production of sustainable roof underlayments and geosynthetics. This involves the analysis of the entire value chain at pilot scale.

Periodontitis is widespread and can have serious consequences for overall health. Researchers at Fraunhofer have identified a substance that selectively inhibits only those bacteria that cause periodontitis, thereby preserving the natural balance of the oral microbiome. This technology has been further developed and commercialized as a range of oral care products by the spin-off company PerioTrap.

The partial collapse of the Carola Bridge in Dresden in September 2024 was a wake-up call for Germany’s infrastructure policy. At least 8,000 highway bridges and roughly 18,000 kilometers of railroad in Germany are now considered in need of repair, with the cost of necessary renovations currently estimated at up to 100 billion euros. Continuous infrastructure monitoring is expensive, so it has been neglected. The Engineering of Adaptive Systems institute branch at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS is working on an efficient and cost-effective solution: leveraging robust radar sensor technology originally designed for the automobile sector to monitor bridges, rail tracks, and other structures.

Pests that spread as a result of climate change pose an increasing threat to fruit farming and viticulture in Germany. Fraunhofer researchers are working with partners to develop methods for the early identification of infestations in grapevines and in apricot, apple and pear trees so as to enable timely countermeasures to be taken. A mobile lab, the PhenoTruck®, supports rapid and reliable identification of harmful organisms directly on site. The platform provides a highly mobile system for analyzing disease symptoms, combining machine-learning methods, drone-based multispectral sensing, hyperspectral sensing and molecular biological tests.