2023 Batch #2, EN, start-up

Zolarize

Founder Prof. Dr. Matthias Sperl

Batch #2

Category: Construction sector

Construction sand has become one of the most sought-after raw materials in the world. As the world’s population has grown, the demand for sand has tripled, but only a small part of the global sand deposits is suitable for the construction industry. This is because it has to meet certain criteria, must not be too round and fine-grained, and therefore cannot simply be replaced by desert sand, which is available in abundance. The start-up Zolarize, a start-up project from the German Aerospace Centre in Cologne, has taken on this problem and developed a sustainable, CO2-neutral process for producing building sand from desert sand. The process uses solar energy and consists of two steps: First, the desert sand is baked in a sintering process and then broken up with a crusher. The material properties of the resulting granulate even exceed those of the building sand approved in Germany.