Consumers' desire for environmentally friendly products is increasingly prompting companies to put the issue of sustainability on the agenda. This also includes the challenge of producing less plastic waste. Alternatives to plastic packaging do exist. Recycled paper fibers, for example, are the basic material from which the Cologne-based start-up PAPACKS offers a wide variety of packaging solutions. The range extends from egg boxes and cream jars to inlays and cardboard packaging for industry.

Blueberries are in demand: their acreage has more than doubled in recent years to over 3,000 hectares. However, as with many perennial plants, insect pests are causing difficulties for fruit growers. The cherry vinegar fly, for example, lays its eggs in the berries, rendering the fruit unusable for trade. And the larvae of the chokecherry weevil and white grubs eat the blueberry roots, causing the plants to suffer or even die. The HOPE collaborative research project aims to develop sustainable, non-chemical solutions to both problems.

Archaea are among the oldest living organisms on earth. The single-celled organisms are undemanding and often live in extreme environments such as hot springs, salt lakes or the deep sea. Researchers have now also detected a globally distributed species that can convert ammonium in Europe's third largest inland lake, Lake Constance.

For several years now, the CRISPR-Cas gene scissors have provided molecular biologists with a tool that enables targeted changes to the genome. The potential for plant breeding in particular is enormous. Genetic information of important crops can be modified to make them more resistant to pests, diseases or extreme climatic conditions. Holger Puchta from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is one of the pioneers worldwide who first used the CRISPR-Cas gene scissors on plants.

Forests bind carbon dioxide, store water, cool the air and provide recreation. But forestry has not yet been financially rewarded for all these added values. Researchers at TU Dresden therefore believe that sustainable forest management could become more attractive if there were concepts that rewarded forest ecosystem services. Funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), the experts therefore want to develop such a concept over the next three years.

Sun, water, air and nutrients are the basic requirements for plant growth. Since it is not always easy to obtain sufficient nutrients from the soil, more than 80 % of all plants have formed a symbiosis with certain fungi, a so-called arbuscular mycorrhiza.