Midterm Conference

The Plan-C project consortium held its Midterm Conference in Slovakia on May 22, as part of the 10th International Conference on Polymeric Materials in Automotive (PMA 2025).

The conference provided an excellent opportunity for participating project partners, businesses, researchers, and representatives of various institutions involved in developing sustainable solutions in the plastics industry to discuss the challenges, steps, and promotion of the transition to a circular economy.

The event featured a presentation of the Plan-C project's mission to integrate the plastics and mechanical engineering industries into the circular economy. As the project has reached its halfway point, the results achieved so far were also presented by Iris Reingruber (Business Upper Austria), the lead partner of the project.

The professionals in attendance had the opportunity to hear an excellent keynote lecture by Prof. Pavel Alexy (STU Bratislava, Slovakia) titled "Plastics and Bioplastics in the Circular Economy".

In his comprehensive presentation, he outlined the EU strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, highlighting the challenges faced during the transition to circularity. He also emphasized that shifting the plastics industry towards a circular economy not only supports sustainability but also brings significant economic benefits.

As part of the Midterm Conference programme, several insightful presentations were delivered by Project Partners of Plan-C and experts actively engaged in circular economy innovations within the plastics and materials sectors:

🔹 Andra-Cristina Enache from the “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry (Romania) gave a presentation titled “Circular Chemistry as the Key to a Circular Economy: Transforming PET Waste into Sustainable Materials.” Her talk focused on innovative chemical processes that enable the transformation of PET waste into value-added, sustainable materials, highlighting the importance of chemistry in advancing circularity.

🔹 Jakub Kaščak from the Technical University of Košice (Slovakia) presented his latest research under the title “Optimizing Filament Production for FFF Technology: Presentation of Current Results in the Area of Circular Economy Support.” The session addressed technical improvements in filament production for 3D printing, with a strong emphasis on material reuse and efficiency.

🔹 Slavomír Tirpák from the Slovak Plastic Cluster (Slovakia) introduced a compelling case study in his talk titled “A Mixture of Hemp Hemicellulose and Nonoilen Biodegradable Plastic and Its Composting Possibilities in Conditions of Home Composting.” He discussed the development of biodegradable plastic blends and their practical potential in home composting systems, offering a glimpse into future-oriented sustainable material solutions.

These presentations contributed valuable perspectives to the conference, demonstrating the diversity of approaches currently being explored to support the transition to a circular economy in the plastics and materials industries.

The event concluded with an interactive workshop led by one of the project's technical leaders, Daniela Cosniță president of ClusterRO. The session actively involved the audience in a collaborative discussion under the theme:
"Scenario analysis and visioning of a circular plastics value chain – plastics producer/processor as enabler and system supporter for a circular machine industry."

Participants engaged in exploring future pathways and strategic roles of plastics producers and processors in supporting circularity within the machinery sector. The interactive format encouraged open dialogue and idea-sharing, rounding off the conference with forward-looking perspectives and collective insights.