Circularity Challenge – Recap
48 Hours, 80 Talents, 20 Prototypes – A Sprint Toward a Circular Future
How do you turn ambitious visions for a circular economy into tangible prototypes—within just 48 hours?
From 13–14 November 2025, more than 80 students from the University of Innsbruck and TH Rosenheim came together for the Circularity Challenge 2025. Guided by 20+ mentors and industry experts, the participants tackled five real-world challenges submitted by leading companies in packaging, feed systems, renewable energy, and materials innovation.
The result?
A vibrant two-day innovation sprint filled with bold ideas, rapid prototyping, and powerful collaborations.
Five Challenges, One Mission: Circular Innovation at Scale
1. Circular Packaging (Riwega)
How might we create a circular packaging solution to reduce waste?
Teams explored smarter, lighter, recyclable alternatives—from hybrid reusable systems to 100% rPET strapping and kraft-paper structures.
Winning Team: PackLab convinced the jury with a hybrid packaging system that uses reusable containers for large customers and vacuum-packed deposit bags for small customers—cutting plastic waste while improving logistics efficiency and long-term cost performance for Riwega.
2. Circularity in Jewelry (Swarovski)
Teams presented fully automated take-back and recycling systems—combining AI recognition, cryogenic fragmentation, density separation, and customer reward models to enable circular luxury.
Winning Teams:
Sparkles, with a return-driven model that motivates customers through non-monetary rewards and leverages AI sorting and advanced cryogenic fragmentation technologies to recover high-quality crystal and metal.
Swarovski Loop, with a circular recovery ecosystem that combines AI-based identification, multiple high-yield recovery methods, and an intuitive app-supported return program to give Swarovski crystals a scalable “second life.”
3. Circular Box (Design Composite)
How might we build a profile-free, strong, tight box from PP-only panels to enable circularity?
Participants reimagined modular, lightweight construction using PP-only solutions. Concepts ranged from heat-welded joints to new digital adoption tools for builders.
Winning Team: Design Composite Group 2 took first place with a dovetail + V-groove connection system that creates a fully recyclable, lightweight PP box secured by heat welding.
4. Circular Feed (Siglmühle)
Teams built farmer-friendly tools—from photo-based milk report analysis via WhatsApp to real-time monitoring systems and data-sharing competitions.
Winning Team: FeedSmart Innovators stood out with a real-time data platform that monitors barn conditions and feed performance, offering early health alerts and improving feed efficiency across farms.
5. Heat from Sewage (Heliotherm)
Teams explored standardized modules that connect sewer heat exchangers, compact heat-pump units, and retrofittable systems for hotels or residential buildings.
Winning Team: Heliotherm HeatMiners won by developing a funnel-based wastewater collection system for households, enabling low-maintenance heat recovery and scalable energy savings.
The People Behind the Impact
Participants: Students from UIBK and TH Rosenheim combined engineering, business, sustainability, and design perspectives to unlock fresh circular ideas.
Mentors & Jury: More than 20 experts supported the teams. The jury evaluated innovation, feasibility, impact, clarity, and challenge fit—ensuring winning solutions had real potential.
Thanks to all our partners
Event-Partner: Standortagentur Tirol
Challenge-Partner: Design Composite, Riwega, Siglmühle, Swarovski & Heliotherm
Education-Partner: University of Innsbruck, TH Rosenheim
Mentors: u. a. David Brötzner, Simon Tumler, Ulrich Prechsl, Werner Koessler, Werner Balika, Lea Tüchler, Rainer Pfluger, Giovanni Libardoni
Supporters: IDM Südtirol, Innovation Salzburg, Hermann Auer (Photos), Innovation & Entrepreneurship Team der UIBK mit Katja Hutter, InnovationSprint, InnCubator
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