Awards and honours

Award-​winning innovations

CEO Pascal Klein is among the 'Top 40 under 40'

Pascal Klein, co-​founder and CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG, received the ‘Top 40 under 40′ award from the business magazine Capital. Once a year, Capital’s editorial team selects 40 of the brightest talents under the age of 40 from the fields of business, science, politics and society. During the selection process, the editorial team interviews politicians, top civil servants, managers, entrepreneurs, consultants and past award winners. This year’s award winners were once again honoured at the ‘Top 40 Under 40’ gala in Berlin, which took place on 17 November 2022 for the 15th time since 2007. Over the years, the annual events have helped to cultivate a network that brings together top performers from a range of disciplines to discuss important topics for the future at the awards ceremony.

Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG: ‘I was really very surprised when I heard about the award and, of course, I feel highly honoured. Our journey at Pyrum is far from over, and we want to continue contributing to the establishment of a circular economy in Germany and beyond. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues who made possible the incredible development we have enjoyed at Pyrum over the last few years!’

Pascal Klein founded Pyrum in 2008 together with his Management Board colleague Michael Kapf. Since the change of legal form to a public limited company in 2018, he has headed the company’s Management Board as CEO and, in this role, played a key role in enhancing and refining Pyrum’s technology to the point that the pyrolysis process is now capable of operating on an industrial scale. This laid the foundation for Pyrum’s large-​scale rollout, which has been in progress on a step-​by-​step basis for around two years. To finance the expansion, Mr Klein, together with his colleagues on the Management Board, was responsible for the successful IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange in September 2021 and the secondary listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March 2022. Mr Klein will also be a guest at the German Equity Forum in Frankfurt on 30 November 2022 and will present Pyrum Innovations AG to investors at 9:30 a.m.

Pyrum Innovations AG receives 'Employer of the Future' award

Pyrum Innovations AG (‘Pyrum’), a pioneering company that deploys its special pyrolysis technology in the sustainable recycling of used tyres, has received the ‘Employer of the Future’ award from the German Innovation Institute for Sustainability and Digitalisation (DIND). The award was based on a multi-​stage assessment process in which DIND experts examined the company’s future viability and analysed its digital touchpoints and brand presence. The official award ceremony will be held in Cologne on 1 December 2022 and hosted by former Federal Minister of Economics Brigitte Zypries.

Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG: ‘We are delighted to have received the Employer of the Futureaward, which also serves as testament to the strength of our sustainable business model and innovative technology. To leverage our enormous potential, we of course need the right employees too. In this respect, we consider the Employer of the Future award to be yet another string to our bow that will help us to attract skilled workers.’

The appraisal process focused on aspects that make the company attractive and are important for its future viability – in particular, digitalisation and sustainability. The DIND develops the methodology, content and assessment criteria in consultation with top experts from various disciplines and reviews these at regular intervals.

Pyrum Innovations AG (‘Pyrum’), a pioneering company that deploys its patented pyrolysis technology in the sustainable recycling of used tyres, has been ranked among the 100 most innovative companies in Germany in the TOP 100 innovation competition in the size category up to 50 employees. As a result, Pyrum’s innovation management concept was honoured as part of an independent process based on a scientific study covering more than 100 criteria in five categories. As the only innovation competition in Germany, TOP 100 has been honouring medium-​sized companies for their innovation processes and successes for the past 29 years.

Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG: ‘This award is something very special for us because it proves that we are ideally equipped to meet future challenges. In addition, our inclusion in the list of the 100 most innovative companies in Germany is objective proof that our employees operate in an environment where they are free to work innovatively and creatively. This is one of the reasons why we successfully brought our unique pyrolysis technology to industrial market maturity over recent years.’

The TOP 100 innovation competition assesses the innovation potential of companies using a sophisticated, scientifically independent benchmarking process. Aspects such as innovation success, innovation climate, innovative processes and organisation, external orientation /​open innovation and innovation-​promoting top management are examined with the help of a standardised questionnaire developed by Professor Nikolaus Franke. As the scientific director of TOP 100 and head of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Professor Franke is regarded as one of the world’s leading innovation researchers. The benchmarking process is designed to also factor in industry-​specific characteristics, allowing companies from a range of different sectors to be compared. The participating companies are divided into three size categories: up to 50 employees; 51 to 200 employees; and more than 200 employees. Of the more than 3,000 companies that usually apply to participate, only a maximum of 100 companies in each size category ultimately receive the award. The award ceremony will be held on 24 June 2022 at the German SME Summit in the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt am Main and will be hosted by science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar.

Pyrum Innovations AG, a pioneering company specialising in the complete and sustainable recycling of used tyres by means of its globally patented, unique pyrolysis technology, won the award in the Best Tyre Recycling Innovation category at the inaugural Recircle Awards last night. The event is a new global tyre industry initiative aimed at recognising companies and individuals who are making a significant contribution within the tyre regeneration and recycling industry and whose work is focused on achieving a circular economy. The shortlist of nominated companies was determined by a selection committee of international industry experts. The winners were announced last night at a live-​streamed awards ceremony.

Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG: ‘We are extremely proud of this award. We were delighted simply to be included on the list of nominees, because this is an industry award and so our successes are recognised by proven experts. The fact that we have now actually won the Recircle Award motivates us in our efforts to contribute to a circular economy by enabling the complete and sustainable recycling of used tyres using our pyrolysis technology – and on an industrial scale too, because our plant has been running since May 2020.’

You can watch the Recircle Awards 2021 ceremony here:

YouTube

By loading the video, you accept YouTube’s privacy policy.
Learn more

Load video

Concours Lépine International 2015 in Paris

Pyrum’s patent received the following award:

  • Concours Lépine National: Grand Prix du Sénat

The Concours Lépine is the most important award for technological inventions and new developments presented by a French organisation (Lépine). Hundreds of companies from all over the world apply for these awards every year. The Concours Lépine award is therefore not limited just to France, but enjoys international renown too. Pyrum won the ‘Grand Prix du Sénat’ in 2015, which is equivalent to second place internationally.

Pyrum was awarded the following prizes at the European edition of the Concours Lépine:
  • Prix du Conseil Régional d’Alsace (2nd place overall)
  • Prix de l’INPI (prize awarded by the French Patent Office)

At the Concours Lépine Européen, numerous inventions from Europe are presented at a separate trade fair in Strasbourg every September. Pyrum was awarded two of the prestigious prizes.

The Pyrum Innovations Group has received the following awards:

  • State winner Saarland 2012
  • National winner ‘Innovation’ 2012

The prestigious awards for state and national winners are presented just once a year by the KFW Banking Group in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Economics.