Environmental Process Engineering and Recycling (Master)

Growing mountains of garbage, marine pollution, etc.; scarcity of resources and increasing dependence on imports of raw materials; potential to cut CO2 emissions by recycling – all are driving an evolution across waste, life-cycle, and resource management. How we deal with garbage, waste water, and emissions, taking into account technological, economic, and social issues, is what this degree program is all about, producing all-rounders ready to face the future challenges of the field.

Jobs and careers

Potential jobs for engineers specializing in environmental process engineering and recycling include all occupations concerned with either preventively or counteractively protecting the environment, or with reclaiming resources from waste streams. They can be employed to ensure green production, manage recycling, or to analyze, prevent, and remedy the generation and spread of pollution in the air, the water, and the soil. They have the wherewithal to develop holistic strategies, to design processes, and to plan, construct, and run plants, with due consideration to relevant ecological, economic, and legal matters. Thanks to the well-rounded nature of this program, the range of possible careers is very diverse.

  • Recycling and waste disposal
  • Extractive and primary industries
  • The automobile and electronics sectors
  • Plant construction
  • Waste-water treatment plants
  • Clean-up enterprises
  • Public bodies and environmental agencies

Why Clausthal?

TU Clausthal has an established tradition of developing processes with an eye for their application in practice and following up on their actual industrial implementation. Located in what is one of the best recycling regions in the world, the Harz mountains, we are continuing that tradition in close cooperation with a large number of companies and research facilities. Alumni of this degree program are often to be found collaborating through industrial and research networks at the regional, national, and international levels in their later careers, in a field that is set to expand massively in the coming decades. Our teaching, always focused on practical application and well integrated into our research, therefore takes place not only in lecture theaters but also in up-to-date technical and chemical laboratories as well as in partnership with commercial businesses.

Program structure

The foundations of this degree program are taught in the first three semesters with compulsory courses on, for example, general recycling structures; metal, glass, and plastics recycling; waste-water engineering; and air-pollution control. Alongside these, a large number of optional modules are available in process engineering, sustainability, environmental law, and elements of social studies. Students can gather practical experience during the laboratory classes offered in their second and third semesters as well as through their third-semester essay project. What they have learned can then feed into the master’s thesis they write in their fourth semester.

Focus
  • Life-cycle management and efficient use of resources
  • Waste streams and recycling technology
  • Metal, plastics, and minerals recycling
  • Waste-treatment process engineering
  • Thermal treatment of waste materials and residues
  • Waste-water engineering and air-pollution control
  • Sustainability management
  • Laboratory classes
  • Essay project and master’s thesis

Program advisors and Program supervisor

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Goldmann
Phone: +49 5323 72-2735
Fax: +49 5323 72-2353
E-Mail: ma.uvtr@tu-clausthal.de
Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing, Waste Disposal and Geomechanics
Walter-Nernst-Straße 9
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Program outline

Type of program: Master
Duration: 4 Semester
Language of teaching: German
Degree: Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Start date: Admission to the winter semester, but also to the summer semester possible.
Accreditation: Urkunde ASIIN

Starting your studies

Welcome Weeks (before the start of lectures)
The Clausthal University of Technology supports the start of studies with various event formats.

Pre-course in mathematics (before the start of lectures)
The Institute of Mathematics offers a pre-course in mathematics for Bachelor's degree programmes. Master's students who would like to refresh their mathematics knowledge are also welcome to attend this course.

Admission requirement

The Master's program builds on various Bachelor's programs. Graduates of the Bachelor's programs in Process Engineering/Chemical Engineering, Geoenvironmental Engineering and Energy and Raw Materials at Clausthal University of Technology as well as of a number of other Bachelor's programs in the fields of environmental engineering, process engineering, raw materials engineering at other universities and universities of applied sciences can be admitted to the Master UVTR.