The concentrated circular and resource economy met for an exchange of science and practice at TU Wien in 2024.

Host: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Helmut Rechberger
 

Aim of the congress

The congress sees itself as a platform on which the latest results of university and university-related research in the field of circular economy and resource management from completed master's theses and current, advanced or recently completed dissertations are presented to the specialist public. Each year, the 60-member advisory board of the congress is asked to support the scientists in submitting their topics. The organizer thus specifically addresses young scientists and offers a platform for scientific exchange, but also serves as a forum for practitioners to get an idea of the state of science and future developments. In this way, networking is supported and promoted.

Download the program

Download the conference proceedings
 

Review of the event

The response to the Congress 2024 at TU Wien was outstanding. From over 90 submissions from 28 universities in the German-speaking world, which deal with the topic of circular economy and resource management, a total of 76 topics were presented in 23 lectures and 53 poster presentations. A total of around 180 experts took part in the congress.

The Wiko has developed into a high-quality congress in recent years.This time, the exciting topics also included Design for Circularity to a greater extent and thus addressed product design.The congress offers young scientists, professors and companies the opportunity to get to know each other and promote sustainable ideas. Meetingdirectly and exchanging ideas outside of the scientific congress program is what makes the congress so successful, according to the positive conclusion of Prof. Dr. Christina Dornack, TU Dresden.

The great interest of the young scientists was also reflected in the supporting program. On the initiative of the ISWA Young Professionals, a tour of the City of Vienna's fermentation plant took place the day before, which was commented on positively by Prof. Dr. Michael Nelles (University of Rostock, DBFZ Leipzig). He explicitly called on the young scientists to network nationally and internationally in the DGAW-Young Professionals and ISWA-Young Professionals networks and to use corresponding synergies for their professional development. Immediately after the WiKo, the Young Scientists / Young Professionals continued their exchange at the "Kaiserwalzer 2.0" and then in the Viennese bars. The entertaining discussions focused on the WiKo, tourism recommendations for Vienna, the university locations and much more.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Woidasky, HS Pforzheim, also drew a thoroughly positive conclusion: " The WIKO is a unique and high-quality showcase for academic research into the circular economy in German-speaking countries.The latest circular economy results are presented and constructively discussed here - a unique forum for all those concerned with the sustainability-oriented development of our industrial society.

In addition to the technical demands, the TU Vienna also offered a very special setting for the congress with the architecturally unique domed hall under the roof of the TU. The evening reception in the traditional Prechtlsaal was also full of atmosphere. Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Rechberger explained the long tradition of TU Wien in his welcoming speech and built surprising bridges from the circular economy to the musical history of the city of Vienna. Josef Strauss, the younger brother of Johann Strauss, was a dedicated engineering student at TU Wien and the inventor of a horse-drawn street sweeper. However, he had to give up his technical career in favor of supporting his brother Johann, but was at least on a par with him thanks to his equally strong musical talent. After an equally surprising performance by the host on the violin of the following string quartet, a long evening followed with lively exchanges and time for networking.

DGAW Science Award CEC4Europe and non-cash prizes

This year's DGAW Science Award was sponsored by CEC4Europe (Circular Economy Coalition for Europe). The merger of the Austrian association with the DGAW was officially announced by Prof. Dr. Christoph Scharff and Dr. Alexander Gosten. The expert jury awarded theDGAW Science Prize CEC4Europeto the three best contributions in each of the lecture and poster categories.

Award winners lectures

1st place: Viktoria Scheff (University of Kassel): Modeling of ash melting behavior as a basis for the use of biogenic residues and waste materials in biomass furnaces

2nd place: Gerald Koinig (Montanuniversiät Leoben): Methods for optimizing the sorting of plastic packaging films

3rd place: Clément Owusu Prempeh (University of Rostock, DBFZ Leipzig):Generation of biogenic silica from biomass residues as a catalyst support for low-temperature catalytic methane combustion

Winner Poster

1st place: Azizi Ferozan (University of Leoben): PVReValue - Holistic recycling of photovoltaic modules

2nd place: Anton Vielsack (HS Pforzheim): Analysis and evaluation of different imaging approaches for the characterization and quantification of infectious waste

3rd place: Isla Marie Hodgkinson (TU Dresden): Biodegradable equals compostable? How the initially necessary abiotic hydrolysis influences the degradation of PLA in composting and in nature

All prizes are associated with cash prizes. All prize winners also received an annual subscription to Müll und Abfall, the specialist journal for recycling and resource management. In addition, participation in the congress in the following year is free of charge and includes a travel allowance.

Special prize from Stadtreinigung Hamburg

Stadtreinigung Hamburg/HiiCCE invites two further prize winners to participate in IFAT Munich as part of a special prize, which was selected by lot. As at IFAT 2022, the presence of young scientists at IFAT Munich 2024 will be promoted by the IFAT Science Corner stand, which is attached to the Stadtreinigung Hamburg stand. The award winners will have the opportunity to attend IFAT 2024 for three days and present their papers on the stage of the Association of Municipal Enterprises. Travel costs, hotel and tickets will be covered. The winners are:

Hanah Stipanovic (University of Leoben) and Moritz Petzold (Münster University of Applied Sciences)
 

SAVE THE DATE: 14th DGAW Science Congress on March 13-14, 2025 at the University of Kassel Department of Resource Management and Waste Technology.Host Prof. Dr. David Laner
 

We thank the host

We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Rechberger and the entire team for the dedicated organization and implementation of the congress at the TU Vienna and for the pleasant cooperation!

We thank the sponsors

The event is supported by various private and municipal companies in the sector. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks for sponsoring this unique congress for young scientists. With your support, we can jointly promote innovative solutions for the circular and resource economy!

We would like to thank the scientific advisory board

At present, 60 chairs from German-speaking countries are represented on the advisory board:

Scientific organization

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Anke Bockreis (Univ. Innsbruck)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Faulstich (TU Dortmund)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sabine Flamme (FH Münster)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Kranert (Univ. Stuttgart)

Prof. Dr. Mario Mocker (OTH Amberg-Weiden)

Prof. Dr. mont. Michael Nelles (Univ. Rostock/DBFZ Leipzig)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Quicker (RWTH Aachen)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Rettenberger (HS Trier)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vera Susanne Rotter (TU Berlin)

Scientific Advisory Board

Prof. Dr. habil. Christian Abendroth (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Heinz Georg Baum (HS Fulda)

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Frank Baur (HTW Saarland University of Applied Sciences)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Burkhard Berninger (OTH Amberg-Weiden)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c. Bernd Bilitewski (Intecus GmbH)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carla Cimatoribus (HS Esslingen)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Dach (Konstanz University of Applied Sciences)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Christina Dornack (TU Dresden)

Dr.-Ing. Glykeria Duelli (Univ. Stuttgart)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Silke Eckhardt (HS Bremen)

Hon. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Franke (Fraunhofer UMSICHT)

Hon. Prof. Dr. Henning Friege (Leuphana Univ. Lüneburg, TU Dresden)

Prof. Dr. sc. agr. Stefan Gäth (Univ. Gießen)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gilian Gerke (Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Gierend (HTW Saar)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Goldmann (TU Clausthal)

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Greiff (RWTH Aachen University)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Susanne Hartard (HS Trier)

Prof. Dr. Andrea Heilmann (HS Harz)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefanie Hellweg (ETH Zurich)

Prof. Dr. Peter Hense (HS Bochum)

Prof. Dr. Soraya Heuss-Aßbichler (LMU Munich)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Holländer (Univ. Leipzig)

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. techn. Marion Huber-Humer (BOKU Vienna)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Kraft (Univ. Weimar)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kerstin Kuchta (TU Hamburg)

Prof. Dr. David Laner (Univ. Kassel)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Achim Loewen (HAWK Göttingen)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Anette Müller (Univ. Weimar)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Ochs (HS Wismar)

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. mont. Roland Pomberger (Univ. Leoben)

Dipl.-Ing. Dr. mont. Arne Ragoßnig (RM Umweltkonsulenten ZT GmbH)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Günter Ramke (HS Ostwestf.-Lippe)

Prof. Dr. techn. Helmut Rechberger (TU Vienna)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alfons Rinschede (FH Gelsenkirchen)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Salhofer (BOKU Vienna)

Prof. Dr. Miriam Sartor (TH Cologne)

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Liselotte Schebek (TU Darmstadt)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl-Heinz Scheffold (FH Bingen)

Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Schmuck (Univ. Stuttgart)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhard Scholz (TU Clausthal)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Helmut Seifert (KIT)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Springer (FH Erfurt)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rainer Stegmann (TU Hamburg)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Iris Steinberg (HS Darmstadt)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Teipel (TH Nuremberg)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Vollprecht (Univ. Augsburg)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Renatus Widmann (Univ. Duisburg-Essen)

Prof. Dr. Henning Wilts (HafenCity University Hamburg, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy gGmbH)

Hon. Prof. Dr. Martin Wittmaier (HS Bremen)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Woidasky (HS Pforzheim)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Wünsch (HS Merseburg)