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Plastic. Climate. Future.: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mat Wielopolski & John Sewell
Plastic. Climate. Future. enables engagement among industry members, climate activists, innovators, and the rest of world (the general public) to ultimately achieve positive changes related to plastic and the climate. In their podcast, Mat & John host guests from these groups of stakeholders and talk about their views, activities and opinions to foster trustful communication and learn from each other.
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- 6 days ago34 min
Scaling What Matters: From Innovation to Industry
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?matterr has developed a chemical recycling process that breaks polyester-rich waste back down into its original building blocks. Those recycled monomers can then be used again in existing polyester production — turning waste into a new raw material.But technology alone doesn’t create a circular economy. Scaling requires reliable waste streams, sorting infrastructure, customers, investment and an ecosystem capable of bringing all of those pieces together.We discuss:How matterr’s technology tackles complex polyester waste that conventional recycling struggles withWhat it takes to move from a pilot plant to industrial scale Why circular materials have to compete with linear production systems optimized over decades — and the role regulation and investment can play in enabling the transitionWhy Germany’s infrastructure, expertise and industrial ecosystem can provide a strong foundation for scaling the next generation of circular technologiesThe technology is there. The need is clear. The challenge is taking circular solutions from promising innovations to competitive industrial scale.Because for circular technologies to matterr, they have to scale.🎧 Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
- 1 weeks ago16 min
Turning Germany’s Industrial Strength into Action
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 ambitions — and what needs to happen to turn that potential into action.Germany has strong industrial capabilities, material expertise and an active innovation landscape. But having the right ingredients is not enough. The challenge now is to move faster and get into the “do stage.”We discuss:Why plastics and material competence are essential to Germany’s High-Tech Agenda — from e-mobility and renewable energy to electronics and roboticsWhat industry needs from policymakers — including competitive energy, infrastructure, less bureaucracy and stronger incentives for transformationWhat progress could realistically look like three years from now — and why transforming industrial competitiveness will take timeThis week, many of these ideas will take center stage at the innovation press conference in Berlin, bringing together voices from industry, startups and academia to discuss the future competitiveness of Germany’s plastics industry.The capabilities are there. The innovation is there. Now the question is how to turn Germany’s industrial strength into action.🎧 Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
- 1 weeks ago35 min
A Front-Row Perspective on the Plastics Industry
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-Chief of CHEManager.That gives him a unique perspective on how the industry has changed, the challenges it faces today, and where it could go next.𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀:How the plastics industry — and the way we talk about it — has changed over the past three decadesWhy today’s combination of climate, waste, energy and competitiveness challenges makes this transformation differentHow innovation ecosystems connecting startups, academia and established industry can help Germany and Europe reinvent the sectorWhy circularity, material sovereignty and the right policy environment are becoming increasingly important for Europe’s industrial futureDespite the scale of the challenges, Michael remains optimistic. The knowledge, infrastructure and innovative capacity are there. The task now is to connect these strengths and create the conditions for the industry to reinvent itself.Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
- 2 weeks ago45 min
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 applicationsWhy electrification, batteries and renewable energy technologies are creating new material safety challengesWhy developing a new flame retardant can take five to ten years from the initial idea to commercial scaleHow fire safety and circularity can be reconciled, and why durability and recyclability sometimes create difficult trade-offsHow sustainability and regulation are changing the way new chemistries are developedWhy even more sustainable solutions still need a viable business case and market acceptanceIt’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!
- 2 weeks ago49 min
When Conventional Recycling Isn't Enough
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 back into valuable resources.We discuss:Why mechanical and chemical recycling can complement each other, rather than competeHow mixed plastic waste can be converted into pyrolysis oil and used again as feedstock for new plasticsWhat it takes to scale chemical recycling from technology to industrial realityWhy regulation and market demand will be critical to creating a viable circular economyHow making better use of our own plastic waste can strengthen Europe’s resource resilience and industrial competitivenessOne 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!
- 3 weeks ago37 min
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.We discuss:How material innovation is enabling high-voltage and HVDC cableshigh-voltage power cables, including HVDC systems, to transport electricity over long distancesWhy these technologies are increasingly important as we connect renewable energy generation to the gridHow advanced materials are helping improve district heating infrastructureThe role of recycled and bio-based feedstocksThe role of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials and bio-circular feedstocks, and the challenge of combining circularity with demanding technical performanceWhy collaboration across the value chain is essential to bring new solutions into real-world infrastructureMany 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!
- 3 weeks ago46 min
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 MaterialsHow 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.We discuss:How to accelerate material development and move from ideas to industrial solutions fasterHow to bridge the gap between startups, research and established industryHow AI, digitalization and data are changing the way new compounds and materials are developedWhat Germany needs to remain competitive as a location for material innovationWhy speed, experimentation and a willingness to take risks matter for the next generation of materialsBecause ultimately, innovation isn’t only about discovering new materials. It’s also about rethinking how we develop them and bring them into industry. Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
- Aug 20, 202637 min
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.🎧 Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
About Plastic. Climate. Future.
Plastic. Climate. Future. enables engagement among industry members, climate activists, innovators, and the rest of world (the general public) to ultimately achieve positive changes related to plastic and the climate. In their podcast, Mat & John host guests from these groups of stakeholders and talk about their views, activities and opinions to foster trustful communication and learn from each other.
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