TUM Senior Excellence Faculty presents book on the circular economy

Ideas for a sustainable circular economy

“We are paying for today’s economic structures and consumption habits with the destruction of nature and the loss of biodiversity in the air, on the ground and below the water surface, and are thus undermining the very foundations of our existence,” says TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann. “Those with the least access to the benefits of human development are suffering the most from the negative side effects of our actions. We are jeopardizing our own future. This calls for urgent action.”

The book "Circular Economy", published by TUM.University Press, summarizes the results of a symposium held in the summer of 2021. Scientists and economists developed proposals for action and identified areas where research is needed. The event was held under the auspices of Dr. Florian Herrmann, the head of the Bavarian state chancellery. The symposium is part of the initiative “TUM Forum Sustainability”, launched in 2016 by the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty. These events are organized on a regular basis in cooperation with the Institute for Earth System Preservation (IESP) and the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (IAS).

Prefaces and introductions for the book were provided by State Minister Dr. Florian Herrmann, President Thomas F. Hofmann, Prof. Gerhard Kramer, TUM Vice President Research and Innovation, and Prof. Michael Molls, spokesman of the Senior Excellence Faculty and Director of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study. In addition to the results of the symposium, the book contains chapters on the TUM initiative CirculaTUM (TUM Sustainability Award 2021), the TUM Campus Straubing and the TUM Forum Sustainability initiative of the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty. It will be presented at IFAT, the world’s leading environmental technology fair, which will take place from May 30 to June 3 2022 in Munich. The print version will be available through bookshops. The books will also be offered as free download.