SusTec welcomes Denise Reike as new researcher

Denise Reike joined SusTec in April 2023 to conduct research on the transition to a sustainable circular economy.

She is part of the Download INCREACE European Union Horizon project (Download Work Package 6 led by Catharina Bening) which is concerned with developing innovative circular economy solutions to increase the uptake of recycled plastics in value-added electronic products. In her research, Denise looks at the CE transition from a system’s perspective at various levels. She seeks to contribute scientific knowledge on the development of value chain reconfiguration processes that mark the formative phase of the circular economy (meso-level). This includes research on required changes in the resource-base and the capabilities of individual value chain actors (micro-level). Together with David Pfeffer, she also studies how established market structures and (prospective) policies affect the viability of using plastic recyclates (macro-level) with the aim to provide advice on ways forward that lead to stable market demand and supply of high-quality plastic recyclates.

Denise commenced her research on the circular economy in 2014. She wrote her PhD thesis on circular economy conceptualization and system-oriented measurement of circular economy processes as a means to investigate circular economy implementation and progress. Together with her co-authors Denise was awarded several prices for the impact of her work.

Welcome to SusTec, Denise!