In February 2025, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) entered into force. It aims to reduce packaging waste and promote recycling, for example through new requirements for design for recycling and the mandatory use of recycled content. The regulation is expected to serve as a blueprint for further legislation, for instance in the automotive sector and later also in electronics and construction.

On Circular Thursday, key aspects of a successful circular economy will be discussed:

• What are the recycling potentials in different industries?
• What technologies will be required?
• What conditions are necessary to make recycling competitive?
• What role can alternative raw materials such as biomass or CO₂ play?

These and other questions will be discussed in expert talks with one association representative and two industry representatives on stage – and in dialogue with the audience.

In the afternoon, a panel will explore the complementarity and future perspectives of mechanical and chemical recycling under current competitive conditions.

The day will be moderated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Renner, Director of the Fraunhofer CCPE and Head of the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT. Within the Fraunhofer CCPE, six Fraunhofer institutes pool their expertise to develop, implement and optimise processes, products and technologies up to application and market maturity – working with and for partners from industry and the public sector to shape the transformation towards a circular plastics economy.

“I am convinced that Germany can do the circular economy. The technological foundations are there, now we just need to combine research and application more closely. That is precisely the aim of Circular Thursday,” explains Manfred Renner.

Programme for Circular Thursday

• 10:30 – 10:45 Uhr: Introduction: Get into the loop mit Fraunhofer
  - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Renner, Head of (Fraunhofer CCPE and Fraunhofer UMSICHT)
•  10:45 – 11:00 Uhr: Keynote: Closing the Loops of Different Material Flows
  - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Clausen, Head of (Fraunhofer CCPE and Fraunhofer IML)
• 11:00 – 11:15 Uhr: Keynote: Matching recycling technologies to the task at hand: different wastestreams require different approaches
  - Dr. Bernhard von Vacano, Vice President and Executive Expert in the Field of Closed Loop Polymer Recycling (BASF)
• 11:15 – 12:00 Uhr: Expert Talk: PPWR* – Current Status and Lessons Learned
  Speaker:
  - Carolina Gregorio, Sustainability Policy and Advocacy Strategy Director EMEA (Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics)
  - Alexander-Christian Root, Managing Director Sustainable Packaging (PreZero International)
  - Hendrik Rasch, Vice President Plastics Recycling and Circular Packaging (EVONIK)
  - Ellen Seyda, Sustainability & Circular Economy Manager (Amcor Rigid Packaging Solution)
  
  Moderator: Dr. Isabell Schmidt, Managing Director (IK German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films)
• 12:00 – 12:30 Uhr: Expert Talk: WEEE – What to Expect in Electrical and Electronic Regulation
  Speaker:
  - Tatjana Dänzer, R&D / Rubber & Plastics Laboratory Business Unit Dishwashing (Miele & Cie. KG)
  - Matthias Röder, Head of Marketing (HolyPoly)
  
  Moderator: Frank Stammer, Circular Economy Specialist (TecPart – Association of Technical Plastic Products e.V.)
• 12:30 – 13:00 Uhr: Expert Talk: Building & Construction
  Speaker:
  - Eric Romers, Project Director (INEOS Inovyn)
  - Rudy Miller, Vice President Vinyl Business (Vynova)
  
  Moderator: Charlotte Röber, Managing Director (VinylPlus)
• 13:00 – 13:45 Uhr: Panel Discussion: Driving Circularity under the ELV Directive: Inside the Global Impact Coalition’s Automotive Plastics Circularity Pilot
  Speaker:
  - Dr. Matthias Scheibitz, Head of Sustainability Strategy (BASF Performance Materials)
  - Dr. Peter Schwarz, Head of Sustainability Technologies (Covestro)
  - Dr. Erik Licht, Director New Business Development, APS Europe (LyondellBasell)
  - John Mortell, ELV specialist (Plastics Europe)
  
  Moderator: Charlie Tan, CEO (Global Impact Coalition)
•  13:45 – 14:30 Uhr: Panel Discussion: Car-to-Car Recycling
  Speaker:
  - Dr. Liang Wang, CTO (Ausell)
  - Jingyue Hou, Project Director (GIZ)
  - Simon Kraemer, Head of Sustainability Product in Group R&D China (Volkswagen Group China)
  - Jia Liu, Global Sustainability Director (TÜV Rheinland)
  
  Moderator: - John Mortell, ELV specialist (Plastics Europe)
• 14:30 – 14:45 Uhr: Expert Talk: Carpet Design for Circularity
  - Patric Kannberg, Sustainability Manager (Object Carpet GmbH)
• 14:45 – 15:05 Uhr: KI Group & Porsche Consulting: Forecast, prices and profit: the development of the European recyclate market and its prices until 2030
  - Klaus Kirr, Associate Partner (Porsche Consulting)
•  15:05 – 15:15 Uhr: Keynote: Perspectives of Chemical and Mechanical Recycling
  - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Franke, Leiter Institutsteil Sulzbach-Rosenberg (Fraunhofer CCPE and Fraunhofer UMSICHT)
• 15:15 – 15:25 Uhr: Keynote: Recycling à la carte: Melting, Cracking – or Solvent Treatment?
  - Dr. Christine Bunte, Managing Director (Plastics Europe)
• ·        15:25 – 16:45 Uhr: Panel Discussion: Perspectives of Chemical and Mechanical Recycling
  Speaker:
  - Willemijn Peeters, CEO & Founder (Searious Business)
  - Ingo Sartorius, Managing Director (BKV)
  - Peter Dziezok, Director R&D Open Innovation German Innovation Center (Procter & Gamble)
  - Dirk Langhammer, Vice President Circular Economy Solutions (Borealis)
  - Benjamin Porter, Global Sustainable Business Development Manager (Trinseo/Drop In)
  - Valentijn de Neve, CEO (BlueAlp)
  - Adrián Morales, Mechanical Recycling Leader (AIMPLAS)
  
  Moderator: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Renner, Head of (Fraunhofer CCPE and Fraunhofer UMSICHT)

Working Together for a Sustainable Future

“Circular Thursday is an opportunity to reflect on our achievements in circular economy and to discuss how we can accelerate the transformation even further,” says Dr. Christine Bunte, Managing Director of Plastics Europe Deutschland. “We invite all interested parties to participate and to work together on solutions that protect the environment while enabling economic success.”

Tickets and Further Information
On 8 October 2025, K 2025 – the world’s leading trade fair for the plastics industry – will open its doors in Düsseldorf.
Held every three years, the fair attracts over 200,000 visitors from around 160 countries for eight days. It serves as a key barometer for trends and developments across the entire plastics sector – from global corporations and start-ups to NGOs and policymakers.

Further details about the fair and the special show Plastics Shape the Future at:
Plastics Shape the Future – K 2025

• Dates: 8–15 October 2025
• Venue: Messe Düsseldorf, hall 6, booth C40
• Tickets: Day passes from €60