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The first session focused on the circular economy in the chemical industry. Dr. Stefanie Eiden presented Covestro’s concept for the circular use of high-performance polymers, which encompasses not only the development of enzymatic, chemical, and pyrolytic recycling processes but also the establishment of new value chains and partnerships. Wolfgang Köster explained WEPA’s approach to manufacturing hygiene products from recycled paper instead of wood and to recycling paper fibers multiple times. Sustainability is addressed throughout the entire production process, for example through the company’s own solar and wind farms. At WEPA, too, establishing economic partnerships—such as with the food retail sector—plays a central role alongside the development of technical processes.

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At the second event, Christian Myland of ThyssenKrupp spoke about the possibilities and prospects for decarbonizing the cement industry, which accounts for 7–8% of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. New CO₂ capture processes for cement production are almost ready for the market, but would require significant investment and lead to a substantial increase in the cost of cement. Their implementation can only succeed with a social consensus and policy measures. Sebastian Köhne from Schüco presented the production of window profiles made from recycled aluminum, which offer a CO₂ reduction potential of up to 87% compared to conventional profiles. The recycling of building materials is often complicated by the fact that they are classified as waste. Nevertheless, Schüco has established the production of window profiles made from “low-carbon aluminum,” which can be offered at nearly the same price as conventional profiles.

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On May 13, the third lecture was given by Marcel Gausmann from re.solution. He started his presentatino with a disturbing picture of tons of cloths dumped somewhere in the desert. His company re.solution has made it its mission to solve this problem by tackling the recycling process of old clothes.

Fabrics contain a lot of PET, which would be lost without recycling. The start-up, which has won several prizes including the RWTH spin-off award 2024 and the ACHEMA-Gründerpreis 2024, uses this PET to recover TPA monomers. These monomers can then be used again for the synthesis of textile fibres. Right now, the team around Marcel Gausmann is working on the scaling up process.

During the fourth lecture on June 2, 2026, Vanja Schneider gave a presentation on the activities of Moringa GmbH and the associated environmental and social benefits for urban development. He spoke of the construction industry as the current main driver of resource and energy consumption as well as waste generation. Moringa GmbH aims to transform the construction industry according to the Cradle to Cradle principle. Buildings can ultimately be seen as reservoirs of raw materials whereby individual components can be separated and recycled after use. As an example of this approach in practice, he highlighted an impressive construction project in Hamburg’s HafenCity.

Marcel Kunz introduced the companies TripleSolar and Voltara, which offer heat pumps integrated into photovoltaic panels and hardware and software for home energy systems, respectively. The focus was on the triad of climate protection, economic efficiency, and geopolitical security as the foundation for the development and establishment of a new technology.