Nominated 2026
Caramma Support Bottle
Caramma ApSCaramma is an innovative, air-free feeding bottle that enables slow-flow feeding in natural positions, regardless of whether breastfeeding is possible or not. The patented design fosters a close parent-child bond and supports the release of oxytocin.
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CropKit — Smart Microtractor
David Soche | TU DelftCropKit is a modular tool ecosystem for small farms. At its core is a compact electric micro-tractor that can be expanded with optional modules ranging from ergonomic weed control to AI-supported plant monitoring. Rather than replacing workers, it supports their capabilities. Made from recycled aluminum, CropKit promotes sustainable agriculture and strengthens the resilience of diverse farming operations.
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DINGS
Alina Schlegel | Hochschule HannoverThe project "DINGS – a modular system for small electrical household appliances" challenges the status quo of household electronics: Does every device really need its own battery, motor, and circuit board? DINGS no longer treats household appliances as separate devices, but as configurable combinations of overlapping modules. Instead of owning two or six individual appliances, all the necessary household devices can be assembled from just a few modules.
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Fib[Earth]Slab
Likhinya Kvs, Nicolás Pousa & Jonas Gorges | University StuttgartFib[Earth] Slab is a novel design-to-fabrication system for hybrid earthen slabs with fiber-reinforced textile formwork. Through computational form-finding and structural analysis, the system offers a circular alternative to concrete, maximizes material efficiency, and enables full recyclability or return to the natural cycle at end of life.
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GoGreen Plus Deutsche Post und DHL
Deutsche Post AGWith GoGreen Plus, Post & Parcel Germany reduces greenhouse gas emissions within its own logistics network. Among other measures, electric vehicles are used for transport and delivery, while heat pumps are deployed in buildings, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. The resulting emissions savings are allocated proportionally to shipments from GoGreen Plus customers according to the book-and-claim principle. As a result, a specific measure does not need to be implemented directly for an individual customer's shipment.
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HOLMES – Suchsoftware für E-Commerce
neuland - Büro für Informatik GmbHHOLMES is a lean, powerful, and highly customizable search software solution for e-commerce. Built on open-source technologies, it offers the comprehensive capabilities of modern product search and can be conveniently configured and specifically optimized through an integrated back-office tool. It integrates seamlessly into existing IT landscapes, combining high performance with a resource-conscious approach. The software was also the first proprietary software to be awarded the Blue Angel eco-label.
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Holz-Lehmbau Campus Berlin
B&O Bau und Gebäudetechnik GmbH & Co.KGThe Holz Lehmbau Campus Berlin (Timber and Clay Building Campus) is an innovation-driven living lab for climate-friendly construction using regional, renewable, and deconstructable materials such as wood, clay, straw, and paludiculture-based materials. Low-tech approaches, short supply chains, and the reuse of building components, such as reused concrete slabs for the foundations, make the campus a model for future-proof construction practice that can be deconstructed into pure material streams.
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Jumper Earth
VS Vereinigte Spezialmöbelfabriken GmbH & Co. KGThe new EarthSelection models join the Jumper chair family developed with Jean Nouvel. They combine the established concept with innovative material execution. The double-walled plastic shells, featuring an air-cushion effect, contain a high proportion of recycled content and significantly reduce the use of virgin material without compromising comfort or durability. The frames are also manufactured from low-CO₂ steel. As a result, the series meets the high requirements of the education and office sectors. A take-back system is currently being established.
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Kreisler: Teilen, Treffen, Reparieren
NEW STANDARD.STUDIO GmbH"Kreisler" brings repair into everyday life. At this neighborhood circular hub, people can repair things themselves or have them repaired, borrow, and swap items, all just around the corner and at a price for every budget. This keeps items in circulation longer and creates a place for communal action in the neighborhood. In doing so, "Kreisler" closes the gap between repair cafés and professional repair businesses, making repair accessible to everyone. The first location is in Berlin-Neukölln.
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Leaftronics
TU Dresden - Dresden Center for Applied Physics and Photonic MaterialsPrinted circuit boards are found in almost every electronic device. Manufacturing them requires enormous amounts of energy and fossil resources, and they are practically impossible to recycle, with severe consequences for the environment. The start-up Leaftronics harnesses the unique properties of natural leaf skeletons to reinforce biodegradable polymer films as the basis for their innovative printed circuit boards.
Note: Biodegradability is a possible feature, but not an essential requirement of our printed circuit boards.
MANN-FILTER: Recycelte Aktivkohle
MANN+HUMMEL GmbHMANN+HUMMEL is bringing cabin air filters with recycled activated carbon into series production. The filters protect vehicle occupants from gases, odors, pollutants, and allergens. A specially developed recycling process recovers the activated carbon from production waste and used filters, reducing raw material consumption, waste, and transport emissions. The innovation has a patent pending. Initially, production waste from European plants will be processed.
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Mary‘s Mantle Chapel
Brückner & Brückner Architekten GmbH | Production: Alois Huber - Gewölbe und Stuck GmbH mit Gröll Gewölbebau GmbH & Co. KGThe "Mary's Mantle Chapel" is built largely from reused beaver-tail roof tiles. The tiles were used as three-layer masonry for the exterior and interior vaults, shaping the floor, walls, niches, and the elliptical vaults. Smaller tile fragments were also reused, set with special masonry mortar to fill the gaps between them. The seating and candle niches, as well as the entrance door, are made of solid oak.
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Materialkataster
Madaster Germany GmbHMadaster's virtual materials registry records the materials used in buildings and documents, among other things, their financial residual value and embodied carbon. The data can be used by municipalities, companies, and planners to factor information on existing materials into planning and decision-making processes. In this way, Madaster creates a data foundation for material reuse and the development of circular construction and value-creation processes.
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miras
Berat Arıcı | Hochschule NiederrheinThe modular shoe system "miras" (Turkish for "heritage") combines tangible and intangible heritage in a circular design approach: through a reduced, multi-modular, and mono-material construction with a lacing-based connection, it minimizes resource consumption and facilitates separation and recycling. At the same time, it translates traditional Anatolian design elements into a contemporary visual language, preserving culture and history for future generations.
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Mäx & Mäleon E-Lastenrad
Mäx & Mäleon GmbHMäx & Mäleon is a modular electric cargo bike designed as a full-fledged car replacement for everyday use. Thanks to innovative tilting technology and a comfortable passenger seat, it carries children and adults safely and dynamically. The handcrafted construction, made from durable, repairable, and recyclable materials, combined with regional supply chains and its adaptability across many life stages, makes it a sustainable mobility solution.
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Panlens
ERCO GmbHThe ERCO Panlens recessed luminaires set new standards in sustainable lighting design: alongside a heat sink made from 100% recycled aluminum, the lens optics are made entirely from production offcuts. For the first time, a lens made from recycled material meets the highest requirements for transparency, shape, and light quality. By reusing production waste, the result is a resource-conscious, economical, and durable lighting solution.
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Poroform
Julia Huhnholz | weißensee kunsthochschule berlinPoroform investigates foaming as a designable manufacturing process. Instead of hard-to-recycle PU composite systems, the project develops mono-material foams with programmable porosity. Flexibility arises directly from the internal material structure rather than from subsequent cutting and joining. A robotic arm extrudes pre-foamed material along parametric paths, placing micro-bubbles precisely throughout the product. The process is transferable to bio-based foams.
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Proto-Lichen
Sacha Schwarz, Leon Junge, Vera Bardin & Massimo Bordogna | Zurich University of the ArtsThe project investigates how architecture and ecology can jointly address the urban heat island effect. "Proto-Lichen" proposes a bio-integrative system that enables microorganisms to colonize concrete surfaces. Microalgae or cyanobacteria embedded in a bio-based polymer matrix form a low-maintenance layer that cools surfaces and reimagines infrastructure as a living, adaptive element of urban ecosystems.
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recasting aesthetics
Marc Roman Page | weißensee kunsthochschule berlin"recasting aesthetics" redefines the use of recycled gypsum through the development of a circular panel material. To date, recycled gypsum has rarely been used as a standalone material, with a large share of gypsum-based construction waste being lost from the circular economy due to inadequate separation or landfilling. By combining recycled gypsum with colored cellulose fibers, high-quality surfaces are created that go beyond purely functional use in construction. The project puts the aesthetic value of recycled gypsum in the spotlight and demonstrates how circular material solutions can act as design protagonists in interior finishing.
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Recycled Critical Battery Materials
tozero GmbH"tozero" recovers lithium, graphite, and other valuable raw materials from spent lithium-ion batteries. The water-based, acid-free recycling process requires no energy-intensive smelting, cuts emissions by up to 70%, and achieves recovery rates of over 80%. The recycled materials are returned to the battery cycle in high purity, replacing primary raw materials.
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Repartly - From E-Waste to Value
Repartly GmbHLarge quantities of electronic waste accumulate in Europe, often still containing usable components. Repartly develops automated, robot-assisted processes for repairing and refurbishing electronics. A recycling app identifies reusable components, which are then refurbished and put back into use. Components that can no longer be used are recycled, recovering valuable raw materials. The goal is to link repair, reuse, and recycling.
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SALVINIA
Laura Neuscheler | Akademie der bildenden KünsteThe work applies a bio-inspired functional textile, developed by Dr.-Ing. Leonie Beek and modeled on the aquatic plant Salvinia molesta, to systems for removing oil from bodies of water. An oil barrier as well as a stationary and a mobile skimmer were developed, physically separating oil from water surfaces. The modular systems require no chemical aids, enable the recovery of the oil, and can be disassembled into pure material streams and recycled.
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Sea Flavors
Soul Food by ArisSea Flavors reinterprets the taste of the sea in plant-based form and draws attention to the ecological consequences of global fishing. An e-book, film, and events raise awareness for resource-conscious eating and ocean protection. Algae, vegetables, and natural flavors show how seafood taste can be created without fish. In doing so, the project conserves marine resources and addresses overfishing, bycatch, and the energy demands of animal production.
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SEZ Kloster
Ludloff Ludloff Architekten GmbHClimate impacts as a resource: turning damaged timber into construction wood. The IBA Thüringen model project demonstrates how regional value chains can be implemented in glue-free timber construction using damaged wood. The boathouse from the 1950s was repurposed and extended with two wing buildings elevated on 84 larch timber piles. Only regionally sourced softwood damaged by bark beetle infestations and storms was used, processed by local sawmills and carpentry businesses. The project illustrates how local action can create new opportunities for addressing global challenges.
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zerooo Mehrwegsystem für Kosmetik
SEA ME GmbHzerooo is a deposit-based reusable packaging system for the cosmetics and drugstore industry. Products are filled into reusable containers and returned to retailers after use. zerooo then handles the collection, cleaning, and redeployment of the containers. The 300 ml PET bottle is designed for the highest possible level of reuse within a circular reuse system and can be used up to 25 times. At the end of its reusable lifecycle, the bottle's PET body and label, together with its PP closure, are designed as single-material components, enabling high-quality recycling.
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