Make@thon school competition: With plastics into the future?!
Focus on the sustainability of plastics
Plastic and sustainability? How do they go together? This question was addressed by 42 committed pupils from regional schools in Emsland and Grafschaft Bentheim/Germany. On the initiative of the “Kunststoffnetzwerk Ems-Achse”, they took part in the make@thon ideas competition. For a week, they worked in small groups to address and correct myths and truths about plastics and sustainability. They were supported by regional plastics processing companies, where they gained exciting insights into production facilities. Two of the 14 groups were supervised by employees from Röchling Industrial in Haren. In addition to the intensive work on their projects, the participants gained insights into research and science.Plastic and sustainability? How do they go together? This question was addressed by 42 committed pupils from regional schools in Emsland and Grafschaft Bentheim/Germany. On the initiative of the “Kunststoffnetzwerk Ems-Achse”, they took part in the make@thon ideas competition. For a week, they worked in small groups to address and correct myths and truths about plastics and sustainability. They were supported by regional plastics processing companies, where they gained exciting insights into production facilities. Two of the 14 groups were supervised by employees from Röchling Industrial in Haren. In addition to the intensive work on their projects, the participants gained insights into research and science.
Final event at Röchling Industrial in Haren
The participants presented their ideas and approaches at the final event, which took place at Röchling Industrial in Haren. All groups agreed that plastics, especially in technical applications, are irreplaceable and useful in everyday life. In particular, their good recyclability and durability are advantages over alternative materials. The young people saw a challenge in dealing with packaging materials. In order to solve this, the students came up with initial approaches during the event. They developed the idea of producing additives from old frying fat or programming an app for collecting bottles. The best ideas were awarded prizes worth a total of 5,000 euros by a jury. A Röchling group also received a prize for their presentation. They compared the use of PlayTec® PCR, which is made from recycled plastics and is used in playgrounds, with wooden playground equipment.
At the event, participants also had the chance to carry out experiments on the topic of plastics, find out about companies and training and study opportunities at stands or experience the profession of plastics and rubber technologist up close with VR glasses.
The event was organized by Osnabrück University's Chemistry Didactics Department, the “Kunststoffnetzwerk Ems-Achse” and the Rotary Club's EndPlasticSoup initiative. "The event showed how important it is to deal intensively with the connection between plastics and sustainability and to differentiate between engineering plastics and packaging materials," emphasizes Florian Helmich, CSO/CTO. "The fact that the young people had the opportunity to develop their own ideas as part of the competition promotes understanding and awareness of our industry."
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