Greentech Festival: innovative solutions against water pollution by plastic
Once again it is designed as a hybrid event due to the pandemic, a combination of elements live on site with an exhibition, panel discussions and boot camps as well as digital elements for visitors who want to experience the fair virtually.
Again this year we are presenting a selection of our projects that fit perfectly with the subject of the Greentech Festival. This time we are concerned with protecting water from pollution with plastic. With the CollectiX garbage collection boat, we have started an initiative with the start-up everwave and the cosmetics manufacturer BABOR, which aims to remove plastic waste from rivers before it ends up in the sea. The start of our joint initiative was a cleanup mission in Serbia on the Danube, which is one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. For ten days, the everwave team was able to collect around 12 tons of waste along the Danube, including around 3,200 kilograms of pure plastic, which corresponds to around 110,340 PET bottles.
Microplastics is also becoming an increasing environmental burden. A large fraction of microplastics that enter the environment comes from tire wear when driving a car. Therefore, the Audi Environmental Foundation is funding a project with the Technical University of Berlin, investigating a modular filter for road gullies. A multi-stage filter system is intended to prevent microplastics and other particles of different sizes from entering the sewer system and the waterways. In addition, an intelligent networking concept including parameters such as weather forecast, traffic conditions and street cleaning ensure that the pollutants can be removed from the road before they are washed into the sewer together with rain water.
The GREEN AWARDS ceremony will take place on the last day of the GREENTECH FESTIVAL with Audi as patron. We are proud that one of our project partners made it to the finals in the “Youngsters” category: Moritz Hamberger. His project is developing a process how fine chemicals and alternative fuels can be obtained from microalgae.