The Wuppertal Institute
The Wuppertal Institute sees itself as a think tank for sustainability research focused on impacts and practical application. The organisation’s activities are centred on developing transformation processes aimed at shaping a climate-friendly and resource-efficient world.
The overriding goal of the Institute’s work is to help to ensure that the planetary boundaries are respected. The Wuppertal Institute has put this goal into concrete terms with a guiding vision of a climate-neutral and resource light society. Since it was founded in 1991, the Wuppertal Institute has been an integral part of the national and international research landscape and a key player in shaping the debate on issues relating to climate, energy and resources. The German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is the sole shareholder in the non-profi t limited company (gGmbH), which comes under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
That creates a mountain of used tires every year. In about a third of the cases, used tires are simply incinerated. However, this is not in line with the principle of achieving a functioning recycling economy, the aim of which is to use and process raw materials in a resource-conserving way. Accordingly, ideally, old tires are shredded and broken down into their parts to produce high-quality products, which can often be used much longer than tires. Just think of fall protection floors on playgrounds or artificial turf pitches for professional football. Thus, the original product is returned to the recyclable material cycle and has properties superior to other products when used in this way. The nine partner companies of the NEW LIFE initiative have set themselves the goal to use recycled material from end-of-life tires as a sustainable raw material for high-quality products with a long-term lifespan and to raise people’s awareness to consume consciously.