Commitment to sustainability honored
Creglingen - Wiesbaden. The promotion of young talent has always been a high priority at Wirthwein, and it is particularly pleasing that Wirthwein has now also received an outstanding award for its commitment to sustainability: Rick Hümmert receives the VDI Sustainability Award for his excellent master's thesis on “Use of recycled materials in injection molding production at Wirthwein”. The award underlines the intensive commitment of the plastics specialist to the use of recycled materials. The Department for Innovation and Material Development, headed by Jan Wiedemann, is proud of its high-quality support for young scientific talent.
At this year's VDI Injection Molding Conference, which took place in Wiesbaden in February 2025, the Sustainability Award for Plastics Technology was presented to Wirthwein graduate Rick Hümmert for his high-quality scientific master's thesis. VDI stands for “Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e. V.” (Association of German Engineers), the approximately 130,000 members are divided into 12 specialist societies, the specialist area “Plastics Technology” falls under the category “Materials Engineering”. One of the tasks of the network association is the development of guidelines in the respective specialist area, events, further training, promotion of young talent and knowledge transfer.
Every year, a university graduate is honored for special achievements in the field of sustainability. The assessment criteria are scientific excellence as well as the scientific significance and quality of the work.
Under the title “Analysis of the use of recycled materials in Wirthwein's injection molding production using the fan wheel component as an example”, Rick Hümmert developed key findings for Wirthwein's sustainability efforts. The way for this extensive and scientifically excellent work was paved by the many years of experience of the “Innovation and Material Development” department under the supervision of department head Jan Wiedemann as well as the close cooperation with the Technical University of Würzburg Schweinfurt (THWS). For Wirthwein, the award reflects the success of intensive promotion of young talent, scientific ambition and cooperation in a spirit of partnership.
Sustainability and promoting young talent at Wirthwein
The work is part of the sustainability strategy of the Innovation and Material Development department: numerous other Bachelor's and Master's theses have already been completed on the topics of carbon footprint, lightweight design and material substitution. The topic of recycling will continue to be pursued intensively. This commitment is part of the corporate strategy, as Head of Department Jan Wiedemann explains: “We are continuously working to reduce our ecological footprint - with a particular focus on climate protection and the circular economy.”
The consistent and high-quality promotion of young talent has a long tradition at Wirthwein: The 24-year-old award winner Rick Hümmert from Röttingen studied “Plastics Technology” at Wirthwein's headquarters in Creglingen. He benefited from the intensive practical training in the various specialist departments and the high-quality supervision of scientific work. Since the takeover in September 2024, M. Eng. Rick Hümmert has been working as “Innovation Manager - Focus on Materials” in the Innovation and Material Development department. With a background in dual studies, the 24-year-old was able to draw on a wealth of experience when he started his career.
Insight Master's thesis: A comparison of recycled materials
In his master's thesis, Rick Hümmert analyzed various types of recycled material made from polyamide with 30% glass fibres on the test component fan wheel. A comprehensive overall view was taken of the material behavior, process adjustments and the quality of the component. The analysis focused on the following target criteria: Reduction of CO2 emissions by at least ten percent, compliance with technical requirements and cost neutrality. The final conclusion: a conscious selection of materials enables the sensible use of recycled materials - even for technical components. This requires an in-depth understanding of processes and materials during production. The result and the award for it is even more incentive for Wirthwein to offer and further develop customer-specific recycling solutions and products in cooperation with partners.
