Established in September 2025, renew (Chair of  Resource Recovery from Wastewater) advances concepts and technologies for resource-oriented water management. Its research focuses on technical and nature-based treatment processes for recovering resources from wastewater and wastewater streams - such as water, nutrients, energy, and metals. Key priorities also include optimizing wastewater treatment plant operations, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from urban water infrastructure, and integrating nature-based technologies with digital solutions in urban water management. Prospectively, the department will expand its research scope to address emerging ecological and technological challenges.

Renew, along with the Chair of Resource-Efficient Wastewater Technology (rewa), the Chair of Urban Water Management (SiWaWi), and the Center for Innovative Wastewater Technologies (tectraa), constitutes the Institute of Water - Infrastructure - Resources (WIR) at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau.