{"id":153004,"date":"2025-09-12T06:52:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T04:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dbu.de\/?post_type=news&p=153004"},"modified":"2025-09-12T06:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T04:52:50","slug":"innovative-climate-research-and-bright-minds-for-a-circular-business-model","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.dbu.de\/en\/news\/innovative-climate-research-and-bright-minds-for-a-circular-business-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovative climate research and bright minds for a circular business model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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> Communiqu\u00e9 de presse en fran\u00e7ais voir ci-dessous<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Osnabr\u00fcck. Excellent innovative climate research and an inspiring role model for resource, energy and environmental protection in the raw material-intensive zinc industry: the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU<\/em>) is recognising these achievements with this year’s German Environmental Award<\/a> worth a total of \u20ac500,000, one of the most highly endowed environmental awards in Europe. The award goes to Swiss climate researcher Prof. Dr. Sonia Isabelle Seneviratne <\/strong>(51) from ETH Zurich<\/a> and the management duo Lars Baumg\u00fcrtel <\/strong>(59) and engineer Dr. Birgitt Bendiek <\/strong>(58) from the steel galvanising company ZINQ<\/a>. The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, 26 October, in Chemnitz, Europe’s Capital of Culture 2025. German Federal President<\/a> Frank-Walter Steinmeier<\/strong> will hand over the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Award winners<\/strong>: Lars Baumg\u00fcrtel and engineer Dr Birgitt Bendiek, the management duo at steel galvanising company ZINQ, and Swiss climate researcher Prof. Dr Sonia Seneviratne from ETH Zurich are this year’s recipients of the German Environmental Award presented by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). At a ceremony in Chemnitz on 26 October Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will hand over the award.
© Markus Gro\u00dfe Ophoff\/DBU, ETH Z\u00fcrich <\/i><\/a><\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New insights into the climate system and an inspiring model for the zinc sector<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde<\/strong>, Seneviratne, the \u2018brilliant climate scientist,\u2019 has used new research methods such as satellite image analysis and \u2018groundbreaking studies on land-climate dynamics to highlight the interactions between soil moisture, vegetation, evaporation and the atmosphere in international discourse.\u2019 \u2018We now know that evaporation, which returns an average of two-thirds of all precipitation on continents back into the atmosphere, plays an important role in drought, and that soil moisture is a key variable in the climate system.\u2019 Thanks to Seneviratne, \u2018global climate models now take factors such as soil moisture, vegetation and evaporation into account more clearly than before,\u2019 says Bonde. One reason for this is that increased drought as a result of climate change is threatening the ecosystem function of land vegetation as a store for climate-damaging greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>). Its effect as a so-called CO2<\/sub> sink \u2018depends largely on sufficient soil moisture,\u2019 according to Seneviratne. According to Bonde, Baumg\u00fcrtel and Bendiek have been \u2018persistent, tenacious and economically daring in their pursuit of the last calorie for decades: with their circular business model, both companies focus on the circular economy, i.e. comprehensive recycling \u2013 from product design to recycling.\u2019 This is an \u2018inspiring example for a resource-intensive industry.\u2019 From sheet metal, bridges and balconies to vehicle construction and wind and solar power plants: galvanisation \u2013 one of several coating methods \u2013 protects steel from rust, with around two million tonnes used nationwide each year, of which ZINQ accounts for around 550,000 tonnes at all 50 locations in Europe. Every year, rust causes immense economic damage in Germany alone, between 100 and 150 billion euros according to the World Corrosion Organisation (WCO)<\/a> and the Max Planck Society<\/a>. Without galvanising, the sum would be much higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonde: Patented microzinc process is pioneering work by a medium-sized company<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through various measures ranging from heat recovery and optimised control technology to a patented micro-zinc process, the Gelsenkirchen-based surface specialist and its approximately 2,500 employees at all locations, including around 20 in Germany with approximately 1,000 employees, focus on circular products \u2013 from recyclable design to the complete recycling of all raw materials used. This also includes a digital circular product passport. \u2018A circular economy is feasible for energy- and resource-intensive companies,\u2019 Bendiek and Baumg\u00fcrtel are convinced. The basis for this is products that conserve raw materials, are material-friendly, low in CO2 <\/sub>and recyclable. For more than ten years, the company has been certifying all piece galvanising surfaces, including the microzinc process, according to the cradle-to-cradle concept<\/a> based on five sustainability criteria<\/a> \u2013 always with the aim of advancing energy and material transformation. The results so far: enormous savings in energy and raw materials plus a reduction in GHG emissions of around 285,000 tonnes of CO2<\/sub> since 2010. Bonde: \u2018Mikrozink is pioneering work by a medium-sized company.\u2019 The patented process, made possible by the company’s own research and development department at the ZINQ Futurium in Gelsenkirchen, has an ultra-thin zinc coating that is 80 per cent thinner than traditional hot-dip galvanising, measuring just ten micrometres instead of 80 to 100 micrometres. Thinner than a hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the IPCC to the National Drought Platform: advancing climate protection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bonde, the German Environmental Award also recognises Seneviratne’s \u2018outstanding climate protection communication\u2019. She did not stop at warnings and appeals, but \u2018promoted climate protection with a high level of personal commitment\u2019, says Bonde. In this context, the DBU Secretary General cites Seneviratne’s work on the board of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)<\/a> and the establishment of the National Drought Platform<\/a>, an early warning system coordinated by the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss<\/a>), which was initiated by her research. In times of increasing misinformation and conspiracy theories, Seneviratne’s fact-based research provides indispensable guidance, according to Bonde. This includes the following insight: without evaporation, extremely dry soils can lead to a sharp rise in atmospheric temperature. The lack of soil moisture then also plays a central role in connection with heat waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n