Global population growth and changing consumption and production patterns are leading to increasing demand for resources. Against this backdrop, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is investigating product and material cycles and their interactions with the environment in a new lead project. Its aim is to develop integrative, resource-efficient closed-loop systems, taking interdisciplinary approaches with sustainable technologies and nature-based solutions.


With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, countries around the world committed themselves to reducing their consumption of resources and energy and to producing more environmentally friendly materials and products. In support of these goals, and to facilitate a more sustainable circular economy, the expertise available at KIT is being consolidated in the KIT Center Climate, Environment and Resources (CLEAR), formerly the KIT Climate and Environment Center. Its new lead project for integrative resource-efficient closed-loop systems (German designation: “Integrative ressourceneffiziente Kreislaufsysteme” – REKS) aims to develop more sustainable cross-system production solutions.

“The development of closed-loop systems will make sustainable economic activity possible,” said Professor Oliver Kraft, Vice President Academic Affairs at KIT. “It’s crucial to consider climate and environmental impacts from the outset. With its breadth of expertise in the natural, engineering, and social sciences, KIT is uniquely qualified to establish the necessary foundation in research, teaching, and transfer.”

Systems Analysis at Heart of Project

In particular, the project involves KIT researchers in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering, construction and bioeconomics. “Analyzing the interacting cycles of various disciplines will enable us to develop new products and materials, reduce their interactions with the geosphere, and improve cycle management,” said Professor Christoph Hilgers from KIT’s Institute of Applied Geosciences, who was involved in developing the lead project. “We want to achieve circular production in which the added value that goes into a product is preserved as long and as completely as possible,” added Professor Volker Schulze from the wbk Institute of Production Science at KIT, who was also involved in the lead project.

To this end, the researchers are analyzing the resource and energy flows in material and product cycles while also considering the condition of products returning from the market. These systems analyses also incorporate environmental interactions such as anthropogenic inputs into soil, water and the atmosphere; assessments of ecosystem functionality and stability; and aspects of responsible resource extraction, resource conservation, and optimized waste storage. Their aim is to ensure that potential optimizations are already exploited during product development. KIT’s wide-ranging industry partnerships in many sectors ensure both technical relevance and the future transfer of the results.

Getting Involved in Resource-efficient Closed-loop Systems

A white paper by the KIT Center Climate, Environment and Resources outlines the lead project’s main objectives. In addition to intensifying research, the white paper recommends establishing work on integrative resource-efficient closed-loop systems at KIT on a long-term basis. To build up technical expertise and provide interdisciplinary access to the subject, it envisions making resource-efficient closed-loop systems an integral component of the KIT curriculum in the future. In addition, employees are to be offered continuing education opportunities at the HECTOR School, KIT’s business school, which also offers master’s programs. Finally, it proposes establishing a graduate school to offer advanced degrees.

White paper (in German)

More about the KIT Center Climate, Environment and Resources (CLEAR)