"Innovation for Sustainability" Award
RITTEC environmental technology winner of the Startups Connected 2022 in Brazil
Empty juice bottles, cheese packaging, to-go boxes, polyester textiles: the RITTEC team sees great opportunities for raw materials where many people imagine filthy cities and seas. With their PET circular economy project "revolBRAS" they were the winners of the "Startups Connected 2022", awarded on September 29, 2022 at the 10th German-Brazilian Congress for Innovation and Sustainability.
The company convinced the expert jury with the holistic solution of generating PET plastic from plastic waste in the future instead of from fossil crude oil. The innovative revolPET® process offers the possibility of realizing a complete resource cycle - and saving CO2 at the same time. With the implementation of the revolPET® technology in the Brazilian environment, the revolBRAS project envisages a holistic solution for the entire PET value chain.
A large number of PET packaging cannot currently be recycled worldwide. Colorful or multi-layer packaging, as well as textiles containing polyester, are mainly incinerated in Europe, which means that these resources are irrevocably lost. In Brazil, most of the above mentioned materials are sent straight to landfills or open dumps, so after a short life they appear as pollution. RITTEC is tackling precisely this challenge with its innovative technology. “This victory means a lot for us and for revolPET®. The highly qualified jury made it clear to us that we are on the right path. Startups Connected is a very valuable gateway to the Brazilian market. The Startups Connected program of the DWIH and the AHK São Paulo supports our efforts to become visible in the Brazilian economy and also in science," says Renan Franco, Charlotte Lücking and Casten Eichert, representatives of RITTEC.
(1858 drawing including spaces)
About Startups Connected
Startups Connected is an initiative of the German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) São Paulo and the German-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (AHK) São Paulo. The initiative aims to promote rapprochement between venture capital companies and startups in Brazil and Germany, as well as between the startup ecosystems of both countries. The core offer of the program is to bring companies and start-ups together to work in a pilot project, while the AHK São Paulo and its partners offer many benefits to support and accelerate this process.
About RITTEC Umwelttechnik GmbH
RITTEC develops technological solutions for securing resources and thus increases the added value in waste treatment. The motivation for RITTEC is that the qualitative performance of the treatment and recycling processes is particularly decisive for the success of the circular economy. RITTEC's goal is to develop technologies for a circular economy that avoid downcycling of secondary raw materials and produces virgin-quality products. With its patented revolPET® technology, RITTEC makes a significant contribution to the complete recycling of products containing PET or polyester from the packaging and textile sectors.
About revolPET®
revolPET® is the recycling technology that achieves the recycling of PET waste into high-quality products at the original quality, regardless of the input material. revolPET® implements the depolymerization and subsequent processing in a continuous operation with the highest yields and primary product quality. The revolPET® technology helps to solve the global challenges with PET packaging and to create new value-added options. The development of the revolPET® technology was funded as part of various public research projects and brought to technical maturity by RITTEC Umwelttechnik and TU Braunschweig in cooperation with other academic and industrial partners.
About revolBRAS
The overall concept of the revolBRAS project envisages establishing structures for a decentralized collection and recycling system incorporating the revolPET® technology in the brazilian market. Above all, the people of the informal part of the Brazilian waste disposal system should receive additional and secure income options. The development of self-supporting economic collection and recycling structures for used plastics containing PET will positively influence the creation of new jobs in the partner country Brazil.