Technische Universität Braunschweig named ‘Rising Star of the Year’ in Paper Atlas 2023 University honoured for increased use of recycled paper

Technische Universität Braunschweig was awarded the title of “Rising Star of the Year” at the Federal Environment Ministry in Berlin on Tuesday. Vice-President Prof. Dr. Manfred Krafczyk accepted the award: “I am delighted about this clear signal that TU Braunschweig is now moving from planning to action in the field of sustainability. There is still a lot to do and we are staying on the ball.” Within one year, the university has increased the proportion of Blue Angel recycled paper used in its administration by more than 50 percentage points. This means that the Technical University of Braunschweig has achieved the highest increase in the Paper Atlas 2023 university competition organised by the Initiative Pro Recycling Paper. A total of 54 universities took part, with an average recycled paper quota of 67 per cent.

By using Blue Angel recycled paper, TU Braunschweig is making an important contribution to climate and resource protection. The updated Life Cycle Assessment for graphic paper of the Federal Environment Agency documents this. Compared to virgin fibre paper, the university saved more than 190,000 litres of water and over 40,000 kilowatt hours of energy last year.

The Paper Atlas has been annually documenting paper consumption and recycling rates in German cities since 2008, in universities since 2016 and in administrative districts since 2018. Cooperation partners are the Federal Environment Ministry, the Federal Environment Agency, the German Association of Cities and Towns, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, the German Association of Administrative Districts and the German Association of Universities. This year, for the first time, a record number of 230 local authorities and universities took part in the Paper Atlas.