Dr. Frieder Rubik studied national economics at the University of Heidelberg. He worked for several environmental economics research institutes since 1982. Nowadays, he is senior researcher at the German Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) [Institute for Ecological Economy Research] and head of the department “Ecological Product Policy” at the office Heidelberg. His research areas are dealing with topics of product information schemes/eco-labelling, Integrated Product Policy, Sustainable Consumption and Production patterns (SCP), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Evaluation & Assessment. He has worked in many projects for, a. o., the European Commission (DG Environment, DG Research, and DG SANCO), UNEP. He is the project leader; he deals with governance topics and challenges of the implementation of business model innovations in the frame of a lab in the real world.
Carolin Bender has been working as a junior researcher at ifeu in Heidelberg since October 2019. Previously she studied biology at the Technical University in Darmstadt, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in technical biology. Within the Department of Industry and Products, her work focuses on the environmental assessment of products, processes and technologies as well as on the preparation of life cycle assessments of food and packaging. She has already participated in various projects on the evaluation of packaging materials in the beverage industry. Within the Innoredux project she will therefore mainly deal with the questions of environmental assessment and the preparation of life cycle assessments for the different packaging variants. Furthermore she will accompany the implementation of the business model innovations in the real-world laboratory.
Carola Bick has been working as a research associate in the Industry and Products Department at ifeu since 2017. Previously, she completed a Bachelor's degree in Biosciences in Münster and a Master's degree in Managing the Environment with a focus on Environmental Sustainability in Aberystwyth, UK. Following her studies, she worked for about three years at the Environmental Foundation Plant-for-the-Planet. Her previous work at ifeu focused on biobased plastics, food packaging and public procurement. Besides other projects she has worked on studies on biobased plastics as foodstuff packaging and on life cycle assessment studies in the beverage packaging industry. Her focus in the Innoredux project is on packaging solutions and business model innovations in stationary retailing, environmental assessment issues as well as the implementation of business model innovations in a lab in the real world.
Carola Bick is currently on maternity leave.
Andreas Detzel holds a degree in biology and has been working at ifeu since 1995. He heads a team of ten scientists who focus on the ecological assessment of packaging and packaging materials for beverages and beverage ingredients. With them, he researches the methodology and systematics of Life Cycle Assessments, deals with the preparation of climate balances in companies and investigates the sustainability assessment of material biomass use. His consulting and research activities at home and abroad include work for the public sector (such as the Federal Environment Agency, Federal Ministry for the Environment, EU) and private clients (packaging and beverage companies, retailers, associations). In addition, he is a critical expert for life cycle assessment studies according to ISO 14040/44. He participated in the revision of CEN/TR 13910 "Packaging - Report on the criteria and methodology of life cycle assessments for packaging" and currently represents the European consumer association ECOS in the development of a standard for biomass based products. At Innoredux, he is project leader on the ifeu side and deals, among other things, with the regulatory framework for packaging reduction and with environmental assessment issues.
Benedikt Kauertz studied spatial and environmental planning at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern from 2000 to
2006. The focus of his studies was spatial environmental assessment. He has been working at the ifeu since 2006. His work focuses on the environmental assessment of projects, technologies and
products. Benedikt Kauertz has been involved in various Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment projects, both as a consultant and project
manager. In addition, he led the project "Life cycle assessment of Danone Activia packaging made of polystyrene and polylactide" and is responsible for essential components of the ecological
evaluation within the R&D project "Investigation of environmental impacts of packaging made of biodegradable plastics". Parallel to his activities at Innoredux, he is involved in the ongoing
research project of the Federal Environment Agency to review and update life cycle assessments for beverage packaging. His work in the Innoredux project focusses on the environmental assessment
of packaging reducing packaging solutions and business models.
Gesa Marken has been working as a student assistant in the research field "Ecological Product Policy" at the Berlin office of the IÖW since August 2019, where she mainly supports the Innoredux research project. In her bachelor's degree in environmental sciences in Lüneburg, she dealt with alternative packaging innovations in detail and examined the barriers of purchase of unpackaged food products from the consumer's perspective in her bachelor's thesis. After completing internships at the Collaborative Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) in Wuppertal and at the IÖW in Heidelberg, she is now part of the IÖW's cooperation with the Cusanus University and begins her master's degree in economics at the Cusanus University.
Sabrina Schmidt has been working as a researcher in the research field "Ecological Product Policy" at the Berlin office of the IÖW since February 2019. Previously she studied psychology in her bachelor studies and business management in her master studies at the Chemnitz University of Technology. There she worked at various professorships in projects that raise questions of a social-ecological economic system. In addition, she was involved in a junior enterprise and several social and ecological initiatives. Her interests center on sustainable corporate structures and processes and the diffusion of sustainable innovations. With Innoredux, Sabrina Schmidt's work focuses on business models and business model innovations.