10:30 - 11:15

Welcome and Introduction to Plastics Shape the Future

11:15 - 12:15

Panel: Balancing Competitiveness & Sustainability – A Call for bold Leadership

13:00 - 14:00

Press Event: Plastics the Fast Facts 2025

15:00 - 16:30

Panel: Accelerating the Plastics Transition through Innovation

16:30 - 16:45

Wrap up

10:30 - 10:45

Introduction: Get into the loop with Fraunhofer

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Renner; Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Clausen; Carolina Gregorio

10:45 - 11:00

Keynote: Closing the Loops of Different Material Flows

11:00 - 11:15

Matching recycling technologies to the task at hand: different wastestreams require different approaches

11:15 - 12:00

Expert Talk: PPWR - Current Status and Lessons Learned

12:00 - 12:30

Expert Talk: WEEE - What to Expect in Electrical and Electronic Regulation

12:30 - 13:00

Expert Talk: Closing the Loop - Rethinking Plastics in Building and Construction

13:00 - 13:45

Panel Discussion

Driving Circularity under the ELV Directive: Inside the Global Impact Coalition’s Automotive Plastics Circularity Pilot

13:45 - 14:30

Panel Discussion: Car to Car Recycling

14:30 - 14:45

Expert Talk: Carpet Recycling - State of the Art and Best Practices

14:45 - 15:05

Forecast, prices and profit: the development of the European recyclate market and its prices until 2030

15:05 - 15:15

Keynote: Perspectives of Chemical and Mechanical Recycling

15:15 - 15:25

Impuls: Recycling à la carte: Melting, Cracking – or Solvent Treatment?

15:25 - 16:45

Panel Discussion: Perspectives of Chemical and Mechanical Recycling

• Industry Statement 'Ring the Bell'

• Potential of Chemical Recycling

• Customer/Technology open

• Plastics circularity: the need for an integrated approach – from alternative feedstocks to design for circularity and mechanical and chemical recycling

• Case study BlueAlp & RES – chemical and mechanical recycling joining forces

10:30 - 11:00

Keynote: How can we accelerate the transition towards plastics circularity

11:00 - 11:30

Expert Talk on Pellet Loss and Operation Clean Sweep

Microplastics: How to prevent Pellet Loss?

11:30 - 12:15

Panel: Additives: Drivers of Performance and Progress

Net-Zero Learnings: Storyline in Scope 3

12:15 - 12:30

Expert Talk: Product Carbon Footprint of Performance Polymers

12:30 - 13:00

Expert Talk: LCA Analysis

13:00 - 13:30

Presentation: The importance of environmental impact analysis. How can we adapt to future requirements?

13:30 - 14:00

Round Table: Monetizing Circular and Sustainable Products in the Chemical Industry

14:30 - 16:00

Keynote and Political Panel Discussion

Competitiveness as a driver for transformation towards a circular economy from different perspectives

10:30 - 10:45

Introduction

AI & Digitalization for a Plastics Circular Economy

10:45-11:15

AI-Powered Material Intelligence: Accelerating R&D that Enables Sustainable Innovation

11:15 - 11:45

Plastics.AI

11:45 - 12:15

Autonomous AI Agents

12:15 - 12:45

tba

12:45 - 13:15

AI in the recycling process (e.g., sensor technology in sorting)

13:15 - 13:45

AI threat or opportunity for science-based industry

13:45 - 14:15

Digitalization, modeling and AI: How much of it is needed in the material world?

14:15 - 14:45

Introduction (EU Data Act)

14:45 - 15:15

DPP made easy - Digitaler Produktpass leicht gemacht

15:15 - 15:45

AI for Sustainability Reporting: Rolle von KI bei der Erstellung von Nachhaltigkeitsberichten

15:45 - 16:30

Expertentalk: Mit KI die Zukunft gestalten: „Intelligente Materialien brauchen intelligente Systeme“

11:00 - 12:00

Panel zum Recruiting

Mangelware Fachkräfte? – Wege aus der Recruiting-Krise

12:00-12:30

Expert Talk: Recruiting by Gaming

12:30-13:00

Expert Talk: Recruiting by Diversity

13:00-13:30

Recruiting Stand-Up: „Bitte nicht einstellen! – Die wildesten Bewerbergeschichten“

Wolfram N. Diener

13:30 - 14:00

HR-Bullshit Bingo

14:00 - 15:30

Science and Poetry Slam on Plastics and Waste

loopwards ... ohne Plastik geht es nicht

16:00 - open end

Women in Plastics

More information

10:00 - 10:30

Arrival and registration, reception of participants and distribution of name tags, coffee

10:30 - 10:40

Welcome and opening, presentation of the agenda and the jury

10:40 - 11:40

Pitch session Newcomer - presentation of 6 startups (10 minutes each)

• Moldsonics GmbH; Linz, Austria; https://www.moldsonics.com/
• AES Autonome Energiesysteme GmbH; Merzenich, Germany; https://aestechnik.de/
• OSPHIM GmbH; Aachen, Germany; https://osphim.com/
• Radical Dot; Munich, Germany; https://radicaldot.com/
• S1SEVEN GmbH; Retz, Austria; https://www.s1seven.com/
• Coiss GmbH; Linz, Austria; https://www.coiss.at/

11:40 - 12:40

Coffee Break with networking in der Coffee Area

12:40 - 13:40

Pitch Session Big Fish - presentation of 6 startups (10 minutes each)

• PAQUESbiomaterials; EL Balk, The Netherlands; http://www.paquesbiomaterials.nl/
• sykell GmbH; Berlin, Germany; https://www.sykell.com/
• Carbon Minds GmbH; Cologne, Germany; https://www.carbon-minds.com/
• Polymerize Pte Ltd; Singapore; https://polymerize.io/
• MacroCycle; Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; https://macrocycle.tech/
• ECO2GROW GmbH; Bonn, Germany; https://www.eco2grow.com/

Wolfram N. Diener

13:40 - 14:40

Coffee Break with networking in der Coffee Area

14:00 - 15:00

WAK Award Ceremony (DE) - Scientific Alliance of Plastics Technology

15:00 - 16:00

Impulse Session - From environmental problem to innovation driver: The second career of plastics

1. Introduction remarks: The power of innovation"
2. Next generation packaging – safe and circular
3. The hydrogen economy based on plastics
4. Sustainable aviation powered by lightweight technologies
5. Closing remarks, Christian Hopmann

10:30 - 11:30

Keynote: Cradle to Cradle - an alternative business case?

11:30 - 13:00

Panel: Microplastics - Ways out of the crisis

• Tire abrasion - Projects
• EU regulation on microplastics - Who will implement it?
• Head of research laboratory: Biodegradable plastics
• Plastic in the environment
• Biodegradable Plastics Maritime

13:15 - 14:00

Expert Talks: Chemical Recycling

14:00 - 14:15

Expert Talk: Mechanical Recycling

14:15 - 15:00

Expert Talk: Bioplastics

15:00 - 15:30

Expert Talk: TotalEnergy integral approach : Rethink use, Reduce impact, Recycle and develop circularity

15:30 - 16:00

Expert Talk: When will CCU go mainstream?