Since 2022, the think tank IN4climate.NRW, founded in 2019, has been bringing together industry and science under the umbrella of NRW.Energy4Climate to drive forward the climate-neutral transformation of energy-intensive sectors – and ZINQ is now a committed partner. Within IN4climate.NRW, ZINQ will participate in the working groups on hydrogen, industrial process heat, circular economy, approval procedures, and political frameworks.

„We are involved in IN4climate to drive forward the circular, meaning the energetic and material, transformation of industry,“ explains Lars Baumgürtel, Managing Partner of ZINQ. „We are networking with experts on technical topics such as decarbonisation through hydrogen or the circular economy, and are contributing practical insights from the medium-sized process heat industry. We are committed to the triple-zero objective of the EU New Green Deal and want to operate within complete cycles alongside CO₂ reduction and put a stop to environmental pollution.“

Even today, the circular business model Planet ZINQ is the practical implementation of a fully circular economy – documented with digital, circular product passports. The basis of Planet ZINQ is a total of 10 fields of action or sub-projects of an integrated innovation and sustainability strategy that are directly related to the triple objectives of the EU Green Deal: zero carbon (net zero CO₂ emissions), zero waste and zero pollution (zero pollution of natural resources).

Alongside ZINQ, various companies and associations from the steel and metals, chemicals, cement, glass, paper, and building materials sectors, as well as research institutions, are participating in the initiative. An innovation team is developing ideas and measures for a climate-neutral industry together with the working group. The process is accompanied by a Strategy Board, which is established at board and ministerial level. The SCI4climate.NRW competence centre is providing scientific support for the process and is investigating the development and design possibilities for a climate-neutral basic materials industry.