Plastic. Climate. Future.

Circular plastics are no longer just a sustainability ambition. They are becoming a strategic business opportunity. But what will it take to move from early adopters to industry-wide adoption? In the latest episode of our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland , we speak with Dirk Langhammer from Borouge International about the future of circular plastics and what needs to happen to make circular...

PVC has been around for decades — and so have many of the perceptions surrounding it. But how much has the material, and the industry behind it, changed? In the latest episode of our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland we speak with Alexander Kronimus from VinylPlus Deutschland about taking a fresh look at PVC : where it is used, why durability matters, and how the industry is working to make...

What does it take to make industry truly future-ready? In this episode, we speak with Gunther Weidinger , founder and chairman of Estanium and former Siemens executive, about how manufacturing can become more connected, resilient, intelligent, sustainable and people-centric — or, in one word: CRISP . Drawing on more than three decades of industrial experience, Gunther shares why the biggest challe...

Another episode of our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland is out! This time, we look at why successful recycling often starts long before a product reaches the end of its life — at the design stage. We speak with Dr. Alexander Azzawi from Evonik about the technologies that can make plastics easier to separate, repair and recycle. From inks that can be washed off packaging to adhesives designe...

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Jens Hamprecht,  VP Global Plastics Steering Committee & Sustainability at BASF , about the transformation of the plastics industry and why circularity is becoming increasingly important for Europe's industrial future. From innovative recycling technologies to reducing dependence on imported resources, Jens shares his perspective on the opportunities and chal...

Last week in Berlin, Germany’s innovation ambitions took center stage. Our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland continues with another example of the technologies and companies shaping its industrial future. We speak with Melanie Hackler and Eva Kamp from matterr about what happens after you develop a promising recycling technology: how do you actually scale it into an industrial business? matt...

This week, Germany’s plastics industry takes its innovation story to Berlin — and our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland looks at what it will take to turn industrial strength into action. Ahead of this week’s innovation press conference, we sit down with Christine Bunte from Plastics Europe Deutschland to discuss what Germany’s plastics industry can contribute to the country’s high-tech ambi...

Our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland continues with a perspective from someone who has been observing the chemical and plastics industries from a front-row seat for more than three decades. Michael Reubold is a polymer chemist by training — but instead of working directly in the plastics industry, he has spent more than 30 years observing, reporting on and engaging with it as Editor-in-Chie...

Flame retardants rarely get much attention. Yet they play an important role in enabling the plastics used across electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies, buildings and many other high-tech applications. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Adrian Beard from Clariant to explore the science behind flame retardants and the challenge of combining fire safety, material performanc...

Our series with Plastics Europe Germany takes on another key question for the future of plastics: What happens when conventional recycling isn't enough? In this episode, we sit down with Marcel Beermann , CEO of ARCUS GreencyclingTechnologies , to explore the role chemical recycling can play in tackling mixed and difficult-to-recycle plastic waste — and what it takes to turn these waste streams ba...

The energy transition isn’t only about generating renewable energy. It’s also about how we transport and distribute that energy — and the materials that make this infrastructure possible. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Matthias Pursch  from Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics to explore the often invisible role advanced materials play in the infrastructure around us. We discuss: How...

 New episode of our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland, exploring “What HighTech is made of – Plastics as the Enablers of German Innovation Goals,” i s live. Episode 2: Rethinking How We Innovate Materials How do we turn promising material ideas into solutions that actually work at industrial scale — and can we do it faster? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Jürgen Stebani, f ou...

Germany’s future technologies share one common denominator: plastics. In our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland , we talk to the people turning that into solutions — from material volume to material competence, the core idea behind The Plastic Shift . For our first company conversation, we sit down with Daniel Koch from LyondellBasell to look at what circularity means when it moves beyond the...

Germany doesn't have an ideas problem. Eight years of shrinking industrial production. Christine Bunt e, Managing Director of Plastics Europe Deutschland , calls it what it is: not an economic dip, but a structural crisis. And yet — the universities are excellent. The research is excellent. The ideas are there. What's missing is the step from idea to industrial scale. “We have lost speed in making...

What started as an effort to create a better alternative to conventional plastic straws led to something nobody expected. In this episode, we speak with Brad Laporte and Michael Winters from WinCup, the team behind PHADE®—a PHA-based material designed to biodegrade in environments where conventional plastics persist. Along the way, they discovered an entirely unexpected application: helping resear...

Circular plastics have moved beyond pilot projects. Today, companies are investing in mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, renewable feedstocks, and even CO₂-based materials. But are these solutions ready to scale—and what will it take to make them mainstream? In this episode, we sit down with Stephan Roest, Head of Circular Economy Business Development at Borouge International. Having spent...

In this episode, we speak with Neil Morris , founder of Kelpi , about how seaweed-based materials could help reshape the future of packaging — and what it really takes to move beyond fossil-based plastics. We discuss: Why seaweed is attracting attention as a renewable feedstock The challenge of scaling sustainable packaging solutions How brands are approaching next-generation materials The realiti...

What if the problem isn’t that we’re failing to recycle, but that the system itself is working against it? In this episode, we speak with Joan Marc Simon , founder of Zero Waste Europe and one of the leading voices shaping circular economy policy across the EU. With decades of experience bridging grassroots action and European regulation, he brings a sharp and often uncomfortable perspective on wh...

What if the future of plastics doesn’t start in a lab, but in a design studio? In this episode of Plastic. Climate. Future., we speak with Beat Karrer, founder of FluidSolids , who took an unconventional path from industrial design into material innovation — developing high-performance materials made entirely from waste streams. From corn cobs to coffee waste, his work challenges a fundamental ass...

Circularity isn’t just about materials. It’s about energy. In this episode of Plastic. Climate. Future. , we speak with Constantine Lau from Schneider Electric , who is leading electrification strategies for some of the world’s most energy-intensive industries. With decades of experience across oil, gas, and chemicals, Constantine shares why the shift from managing molecules to managing electrons...

What if the breakthrough in plastic recycling doesn’t come from higher temperatures or bigger reactors — but from biology? In this episode of Plastic. Climate. Future., we speak with Oliver Borek from Entzimatiko , a company developing a novel enzymatic technology that goes beyond conventional chemical recycling. Their approach combines enzyme engineering, nano-encapsulation, and oxidation in a si...

We’re kicking off the next series of Plastic. Climate. Future. —𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 — a 12-month journey exploring the innovations, systems, and people shaping a circular plastics economy. 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟏: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲: 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆? We kick things off by tackling a major roadblock on the path to circularity: packaging systems that lack transparency, tr...

New Year, New Episode – But First, Let’s Rewind. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰. 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲. 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. – 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧-𝙀𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙥 𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 (2025) We’re kicking off 2026 with something different: a raw, reflective conversation about the episodes that changed how we think about circularity. Three people. Three generations. Three completely different favorite episodes: Katarina (our brilliant marketing lead, now finally on mic) chose Voic...

What began as a curious design experiment has grown into a pioneering materials company, one that’s rethinking circularity, material value, and how we deal with overlooked waste streams. In this episode, we speak with Zsofia Kollar , founder of Human Material Loop , a startup turning human hair waste into high-performance textile fibers for the interior and design industries. From salon floors to...

What if plastic could be made — not from fossil fuels — but from forestry residues? In this episode of Plastic Climate Future , we speak with Fredrik Malmfors , CEO of Lignin Industries , about how this abundant, underused natural material is being transformed into a scalable alternative to traditional plastics. With roots in consulting and food supply chains, Fredrik shares his personal journey t...