{"id":208548,"date":"2026-10-25T09:23:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T08:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dbu.de\/?post_type=news&p=208548"},"modified":"2026-10-25T09:37:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T08:37:36","slug":"conviction-perseverance-and-innovation","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.dbu.de\/en\/news\/conviction-perseverance-and-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cConviction, perseverance and innovation\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Osnabr\u00fcck\/Aachen. The 2026 German Environmental Prize<\/a>, totaling 500,000 euros, will be awarded today (Sunday) in Aachen, with equal shares going to membrane filter engineer Dr. Klaus Vossenkaul<\/strong>, founder and managing director of the Roetgen-based company Membion<\/a>, and to Hamburg-based environmental lawyer Dr. Roda Verheyen<\/strong>. Presented this year for the 34th time by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the award is one of the most highly endowed environmental prizes in Europe and will be presented <\/strong>by Federal President<\/a> Frank-Walter Steinmeier <\/strong>during a ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. The two honorees are \u201cinspirational figures who show how positive progress can be made,\u201d said DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde<\/strong>. He added: \u201cRoda Verheyen and Klaus Vossenkaul embody conviction, perseverance, and innovative spirit with a clear compass when it comes to environmental and climate protection\u2014which also serve as location factors for companies in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonde: Environmental economy as the nation’s job engine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This year\u2019s German Environmental Prize, awarded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), goes to Hamburg-based environmental lawyer Dr Roda Verheyen and membrane filter engineer Dr Klaus Vossenkaul, founder and managing director of Membion (second from the right), pictured here with DBU Secretary-General Alexander Bonde (left) and DBU Board of Trustees Chair Kai Niebert.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bonde urges people to \u201cactively seize environmental and economic opportunities, especially in these challenging global times. We need a fresh start, and we have what it takes.\u201d The environmental economy could become \u201cthe nation\u2019s job engine.\u201d According to Bonde, \u201cclimate, nature, and resource protection creates jobs and ensures prosperity. GreenTech made in Germany<\/em> has the potential to be a major export hit.\u201d To achieve climate goals such as climate neutrality by 2045\u2014which is enshrined in German law\u2014\u201cwe urgently need investment, ideas, and a clear legal framework.\u201d DBU Board of Trustees Chair Prof. Dr. Kai Niebert<\/strong>: \u201cThe two award recipients prove that the future is forged in garages and courtrooms. After all, progress requires innovation and the freedom to demand change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innovations in wastewater treatment and a tireless commitment to greater environmental and climate justice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Membrane filter engineer Vossenkaul and environmental lawyer Verheyen are being awarded by the DBU with the 2026 German Environmental Prize for precisely this reason. Klaus Vossenkaul, whose company Membion literally started as a garage business, is \u201ca pioneer of innovative solutions in wastewater treatment and is thus making a significant contribution to the conservation of water, a vital resource,\u201d says Bonde. \u201cThe record-breaking heat of the summer of 2026 has made it clear just how relevant this will be in the future.\u201d According to Bonde, enforcing the appropriate legal requirements is essential for greater environmental and climate justice. \u201cRoda Verheyen has worked tirelessly toward this goal for more than two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niebert: Today we are also celebrating the strength of democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verheyen works as an attorney in Hamburg, where she is also a member of the Hamburg Constitutional Court. Ensuring the environment gets its due: This motivation has been a constant thread throughout Verheyen\u2019s entire professional life. DBU Board of Trustees Chair Niebert puts it this way: \u201cIn Roda Verheyen, we are honoring a strong lawyer who has been advocating for the foundations of our lives for decades.\u201d She is a courageous advocate for climate and environmental protection and demonstrates \u201cwhat makes our constitutional state strong: that citizens can not only criticize government action but also have it corrected by the courts,\u201d says Niebert. According to him, \u201cthose who challenge the state in this way do not weaken it\u2014but rather take it at its word.\u201d This is a \u201cstrength of our democracy that we are celebrating today with Roda Verheyen,\u201d says Niebert. Landmark legal decisions are closely associated with Verheyen’s name, such as the Federal Constitutional Court\u2019s climate ruling, which held that insufficient climate protection violates the civil liberties of future generations. Verheyen does not want to see herself limited to the role of plaintiff by any means. Rather, she sees herself as an \u201cenabler\u201d whose goal is to equip the state with the necessary legal tools and thus prepare it to face the challenges of the climate crisis. With this level of commitment, she enriched the nonpartisan initiative for an effective state under the patronage of Federal President Steinmeier following her appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Environmental protection can be a driver of innovation”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Klaus Vossenkaul, a membrane filter engineer, holds 28 patents and, in Bonde\u2019s words, \u201chas set new standards in wastewater treatment.\u201d The membrane filter technology for wastewater treatment plants that he has further developed paves the way for an energy-efficient and space-saving treatment system using hollow-fiber membranes. These are thin tubes that, when used in wastewater treatment plants, filter crystal-clear water from the sewage sludge. They look like spaghetti, are hollow like macaroni, and are about 1.60 meters long. Fine pores in the membranes filter problematic substances such as microplastics, pathogens, and multidrug-resistant bacteria out of the wastewater. According to Niebert, Vossenkaul demonstrates \u201chow inventive spirit can lead to economic success. The technology he developed makes it clear that environmental protection is not an obstacle to innovation, but can actually drive it.\u201d At a pilot wastewater treatment plant in the Eifel village of Konzen near Monschau, Membion technology resulted in a more than 90 percent reduction in energy consumption, 75 percent less space requirements, and the potential for six-figure savings in electricity costs per year compared to conventional plate-module membrane filters. Bonde: \u201cSuch green technologies are a win-win for both the environment and the economy.\u201d That\u2019s also the view in Wolfsburg-Stahlberg, where Germany\u2019s largest membrane wastewater treatment plant is currently being built using Membion technology. And this may well spark interest among other sewage treatment plants of a certain size or those located in high-risk areas: from July 2027, the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (in German, for short, Kommunalabwasser-Richtlinie, KARL<\/em>), which requires an additional fourth treatment stage, must be transposed into national law. In the years that follow, the sewage treatment plants, affected by the directive, will need to be upgraded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n