When Conventional Recycling Isn't Enough — Plastic. Climate. Future.

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 Greencycling Technologies, 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 back into valuable resources.

We discuss:

Why mechanical and chemical recycling can complement each other, rather than compete
How mixed plastic waste can be converted into pyrolysis oil and used again as feedstock for new plastics
What it takes to scale chemical recycling from technology to industrial reality
Why regulation and market demand will be critical to creating a viable circular economy
How making better use of our own plastic waste can strengthen Europe’s resource resilience and industrial competitiveness

One thing becomes clear: Europe already has a significant resource in its plastic waste. The question is how we make better use of it.

Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

September 3, 2026

The Invisible Chemistry Behind Safer Materials

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 performance and sustainability.

We discuss:

How flame retardants help make polymers suitable for demanding high-tech applications
Why electrification, batteries and renewable energy technologies are creating new material safety challenges
Why developing a new flame retardant can take five to ten years from the initial idea to commercial scale
How fire safety and circularity can be reconciled, and why durability and recyclability sometimes create difficult trade-offs
How sustainability and regulation are changing the way new chemistries are developed
Why even more sustainable solutions still need a viable business case and market acceptance

It’s a fascinating reminder that some of the technologies enabling innovation are almost invisible in the final product. We may never see the chemistry, but without it, many of the materials and technologies we rely on would not perform as safely as they do.

Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

September 1, 2026

When Conventional Recycling Isn't Enough

August 27, 2026

Building the Energy Infrastructure of Tomorrow

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.

How material innovation is enabling high-voltage and HVDC cables high-voltage power cables, including HVDC systems, to transport electricity over long distances
Why these technologies are increasingly important as we connect renewable energy generation to the grid
How advanced materials are helping improve district heating infrastructure
The role of recycled and bio-based feedstocks The role of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials and bio-circular feedstocks, and the challenge of combining circularity with demanding technical performance
Why collaboration across the value chain is essential to bring new solutions into real-world infrastructure

Many of these materials remain almost invisible in our everyday lives — yet they play an essential role in making our energy systems more efficient, durable and ready for the future.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

August 25, 2026

Rethinking How We Innovate Materials

New episode of our series with Plastics Europe Deutschland, exploring “What HighTech is made of – Plastics as the Enablers of German Innovation Goals,” is 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, founder and CEO of Polymaterials, to explore how material innovation itself is changing.

How to accelerate material development and move from ideas to industrial solutions faster
How to bridge the gap between startups, research and established industry
How AI, digitalization and data are changing the way new compounds and materials are developed
What Germany needs to remain competitive as a location for material innovation
Why speed, experimentation and a willingness to take risks matter for the next generation of materials

Because ultimately, innovation isn’t only about discovering new materials. It’s also about rethinking how we develop them and bring them into industry.

August 20, 2026

Building Circularity at Industrial Scale

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 lab and into industrial reality.

At LyondellBasell’s Wesseling site, the company is building its first industrial-scale MoReTec plant, designed to turn difficult-to-recycle mixed plastic waste into feedstock for new polymers.

We talk about what it really takes to bring circularity to industrial scale — from transforming existing production sites and integrating new technologies into established operations, to creating the conditions that allow these investments to succeed. And we explore why the transition will depend not only on new technology, but also on infrastructure, expertise, regulation and demand.

As Daniel puts it:

“Circularity is not really only a technology question.”

And perhaps that is the bigger story: transforming the plastics industry doesn’t necessarily mean starting again from scratch. It can also mean using the infrastructure, expertise and people we already have to build something new.

This is the first episode in our new mini-series exploring the innovative spirit of Germany’s plastics and polymer industry — and the people turning transformation into industrial reality.

August 18, 2026

The Next Chapter for Germany’s Plastics Industry

Germany doesn't have an ideas problem.

Eight years of shrinking industrial production. Christine Bunte, 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 these ideas industrial products and bringing them to industrial scale. That is often the step that's missing.”

So Plastics Europe Deutschland is turning the perspective around: from material volume to material competence. Plastics not as the villain, but as the invisible key technology behind Germany's future industries.

From today, our series “What Hightech Is Made Of” — following the seven fields of Germany's Hightech-Agenda, with the people actually building the solutions. Every Tuesday and Thursday, through to the innovation press conference in Berlin on 11 September.

Here a short preview of what’s coming:

How mixed plastic waste becomes raw material again - at industrial scale, inside a working chemical park.
Why finding the right formulation used to take months and now takes minutes.
What's inside a power cable and why it decides how much wind energy actually arrives.
Why no electric car moves without flame retardants.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

July 23, 2026

The Plastic That Fades Away, and Ends Up Saving Coral Reefs

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 researchers restore coral reefs by protecting young corals during their most vulnerable stage.

Together, we discuss:

How bacteria can produce the next generation of plastics
Why they chose PHA over paper straws
The surprising connection between biodegradable plastics and coral restoration
What it takes to bring a new material from the lab to billions of products
Why science, certification, and performance matter in building trust

This is a fascinating conversation about material innovation, unexpected discoveries, and how one idea can solve problems far beyond its original purpose.

July 1, 2026

Are Circular Plastics Ready for the Mainstream?

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 many years at Borealis, Stephan brings a unique perspective on how the plastics industry is evolving—from linear production towards truly circular value chains.

What it takes to scale circular plastics
The roles of mechanical and chemical recycling
Renewable and alternative carbon feedstocks
Why collaboration across the value chain is essential
How regulation, innovation, and market demand are shaping the industry's future

This is an insightful conversation about the opportunities (and the challenges) of making circular plastics part of the mainstream.

June 9, 2026

Is Seaweed a New Hope for Sustainable Packaging?

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.

Why seaweed is attracting attention as a renewable feedstock
The challenge of scaling sustainable packaging solutions
How brands are approaching next-generation materials
The realities behind replacing conventional plastics
Why infrastructure, economics, and regulation matter as much as innovation

What makes this conversation especially interesting is that it moves beyond hype. Neil shares the practical realities of building a materials startup in one of the world’s most challenging industries — packaging.

At Plastic Climate Future, we believe serious conversations about plastics, climate, circularity, and innovation need nuance, not slogans.

April 16, 2026

Is Plastic Recycling in Europe Really Broken?

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 what’s really happening behind the scenes of plastic recycling.

Note: This conversation was recorded prior to recent developments in the Middle East impacting global oil and plastics markets.

From oversupply and global market dynamics to policy design and economic realities, this conversation challenges some of the most widely held assumptions about circularity.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲:

Why plastic recycling in Europe is struggling — despite ambitious targets
How global oversupply is undermining local circular systems
The role of policy, economics, and unintended consequences
Whether we need to rethink not just recycling, but plastic production itself

A thought-provoking conversation that goes beyond the surface — and asks whether we’re solving the right problem at all.