Magnetron Sputtering (MS) has become an indispensable technology in a multitude of branches, ranging from hard protective coatings for tooling applications, to functional thin films for state-of-the-art semiconductor or optics components. A major concern for MS is, however, the incomplete consumption of the coating source material – the so-called “target”. In certain cases, as much as 80% of the target remains unused. Considering the significant energy demand for both, the production and recycling, the need to optimize the current concept of manufacturing and using sputtering targets to improve sustainability for the thin film industry becomes clear. This project aims to find strategies that increase the overall fraction of used target material beyond 60% through digital twin modelling of MS and generative design of suitable target topologies which are realized by various manufacturing techniques. The simulation facilitates the prediction of optimized 3D-geometries for different target materials and MS conditions. Advanced shaping processes, e.g. rapid hot-pressing, forging, 3D printing, powder deposition etc. will be used to realize 3D shaped targets. The goal is to establish a new end-to-end manufacturing approach that is adaptable to the current generation of MS equipment and enables a more sustainable use of sputtering technology.