Ostfalia Hochschule - TOCORERAM

Tool for complete recovery of raw materials

TOCORERAM

In a Nutshell

The ToCoReRaM project is exploring ways to support small and medium-sized companies in making better use of raw materials and recovering them from end-of-life products. The idea is simple: the end of a product should mark the beginning of a new life for its materials.

Funded by the German BMUV as part of the “Eureni” programme, the project runs from November 2024 to July 2026. Bringing together the expertise of Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Atlantic Technological University, and the University of Graz, the project team is conducting interviews and surveys to understand what kind of support companies need. Based on these insights, the project aims to gather ideas on how to develop a simple, practical tool that offers tailored solutions and helps enterprises meet EU sustainability regulations.

Project partners

News

Survey Invitation: Help Us Support SMEs in Sustainable Product Development!

We are currently looking for manufacturing SMEs to share their experiences, challenges and needs in a short online survey. Product developers, managers, sustainability experts and plant managers are particularly invited to participate.
The survey is available in German and English and only takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Start Survey

Your feedback will directly help shape a user-friendly tool tailored to the real needs of SMEs.
Thank you for your valuable support!

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Kick-Off Meeting in Graz 2024/12/13

The ToCoReRaM project kicked off in Graz, Austria, on December 12–13, 2024. Partners from Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Atlantic Technological University, and the University of Graz got together to discuss the project goals, set up work packages, and plan the next steps.
The meeting helped lay out a clear path forward, focusing on supporting SMEs to improve raw material recovery.

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Why We Are Conducting This Survey

The ToCoReRaM project aims to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in making product development more sustainable, with a particular focus on improving raw material recovery. Although many tools already exist to promote circular economy practices, they are often not tailored to the specific needs of SMEs — making it difficult for smaller companies to integrate them effectively.

What is Raw Material Recovery – and Why It Matters for SMEs

Raw material recovery means reclaiming valuable materials from end-of-life products instead of disposing of them. By reusing, refurbishing, or recycling materials, companies can reduce waste, lower costs, and conserve resources. For SMEs, this creates opportunities to cut material expenses, strengthen sustainability efforts, and meet growing market demands for greener products.

With this survey, we want to better understand:

How SMEs currently approach sustainable practices and raw material recovery
What challenges they face when trying to implement raw material recovery strategies
What kind of support and features SMEs need from a practical, easy-to-use tool

Who can participate?

If you are a product developer, manager, sustainability expert, plant manager or otherwise involved in the product development process of a manufacturing SME, we look forward to your participation!

The survey is available in English and in German and only takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Start Survey

Your participation will help us design a tool that is truly adapted to the realities of SMEs – simple, practical, and relevant.

Thank you for helping shape the future of sustainable product development!

ToCoReRaM Kickstarts

The ToCoReRaM project officially began with a kick-off meeting in Graz, Austria, on December 12–13, 2024. During the two-day meeting, project partners from Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Atlantic Technological University, and the University of Graz came together to define the project’s objectives and plan the next steps. By the end of the meeting, the team had developed a clear roadmap for identifying the challenges SMEs face in adopting effective raw material recovery processes and the key factors involved in creating a tailored tool to address these challenges.

What is the Circular Economy and Raw Material Recovery and Why Does It Matter for SMEs?

The circular economy is a regenerative economic model designed to replace the traditional “take-make-dispose” approach. Instead of discarding products at the end of their life cycle, the circular economy promotes strategies like reduction, reuse, recycling, and raw material recovery throughout the entire value chain. This approach aims to conserve resources, reduce waste, and promote sustainable development, leading to improved environmental quality, economic growth, and social equity for both current and future generations.

One critical component of the circular economy is raw material recovery. This involves the recovery, reuse, refurbishment, and recycling of technical materials, which, unlike biological materials, cannot biodegrade. By reintroducing these materials into product development processes, raw material recovery ensures that valuable resources are not wasted and that the environmental impact of production is minimised.

For companies, integrating sustainable processes like raw material recovery requires specific skills and resources, including financial investment, specialised knowledge, and a willingness to adapt. While large companies may have the resources to support these changes, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often face more barriers, including a lack of technology, limited support from public institutions, and insufficient consumer demand for sustainable products. However, SMEs are crucial to the success of the circular economy. They make up about 99% of global businesses and play a key role in economic development. Additionally, their smaller size makes them more agile and flexible, allowing them to integrate new sustainable practices more quickly than larger corporations. Although several tools already exist to support the transition to a circular economy, they are often not user-friendly or well-suited to the specific needs of SMEs. This is where the ToCoReRaM project comes in.

Project results

Online survey results

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