We are seeking research collaborations to advance methodologies and practical approaches for sustainability assessment in critical raw material (CRM) supply chains. We offer expertise in life cycle assessment (LCA), material flow analysis (MFA), material flow cost accounting (MFCA), circular economy, resource efficiency, lean production, energy management, and innovation management.
In collaborative projects, we can contribute to the development of sustainability assessment methodologies, models, indicators, and decision-support tools for industry and policymakers, enabling both informed decision-making and the identification of environmental hotspots to improve the sustainability performance of products, processes, and value chains. We are particularly interested in the quantitative assessment of environmental, economic, and social sustainability impacts, as well as in circularity, resource efficiency, and supply-chain resilience of critical raw materials. We welcome collaborations with academic, industrial, and other stakeholders working on these topics.

The Institute for Industrial Ecology (INEC) is a research institute at Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences, Germany. INEC investigates how sustainability can be quantitatively assessed and translated into informed decision-making for industry, policymakers, and society. Our interdisciplinary team develops methods, models, and tools to analyse energy and material flows and support the sustainable transformation of products, processes, and value chains, combining environmental, economic, technical, and management-oriented perspectives.
In completed and ongoing projects, we have analysed the environmental impacts of gold production, developed approaches for the efficient and standardised evaluation of recyclates from rare-earth magnets and lithium-ion batteries, advanced the modelling of closed-loop material systems in LCA, and assessed resource efficiency and circular economy strategies across various industrial sectors.
Most projects are carried out in close collaboration with industry and research partners, combining scientific excellence with practical relevance. Research results contribute both to academic publications and to evidence-based methods and tools that support sustainable decision-making and transformation in practice.
Further information is available on our website: https://www.hs-pforzheim.de/en/research/research_institutes/inec