The Key Takeaways
bgreen leaders Launch
To kick off the official launch of the bgreen leaders network by the Messe München and CIRCULAZE, Dr. Johannes F. Kirchhoff (Managing Partner of Kirchhoff Group and Board Member of the BDI Circular Economy Initiative), Stefan Rummel (CEO Messe München), and Natascha Zeljko (Co-Founder of CIRCULAZE) took the stage to discuss “On the Value of Networks, the Necessity of Collaborations, and Entrepreneurial Responsibility.”
- A shift from linear to circular is of the utmost importance as we are users, not consumers.
- In person events like the bgreen leaders day at the IFAT Munich are so important in connecting people, innovations and ideas.
- All the players need to come together to create a change, from start-ups and corporates to academia and investors. Serendipitous moments are the ones in which the best inspirations come. After all, you can’t start a fire without a spark.
Guided Tour
A highlight of the day was a specially guided tour to companies leading the way in circularity to gain insights on best practices:
- PreZero – A company who began in 2018 under the Schwarz Group, quickly grew across Europe and the US. During the presentation, proper consumer waste sorting was highlighted as essential for ensuring that materials could be recycled and loops closed.
- Remondis – Although Remondis was founded 80 years ago, the fact that the company has remained a family-business was underscored along with the emphasis they place on looking ahead into the future and encouraging new ideas. During our visit, we heard the story of a single engineer at Remondis who developed a solution for incinerating waste sludge to remove the phosphorus and other depleting, essential elements for reuse.
- ContainerGrid – Aron Handreke explained how his journey to sustainability and circular solutions began when he was a kid nicely folding his used wrapping paper at Christmas for reuse. Now, the 29-year-old CEO has co-founded ContainerGrid, a digital recycling and disposal platform which aims to enable seamless work between companies, recyclers and customers.
bgreen leaders eXchange
“Circularity Now! How Circular Models are Transforming Key German Industries: Best Practices, Blueprints, Strategies, and Potentials” with Dr. Nina Fechler (Evonik) and Dr. Caroline Cassignol (Siemens)
- Circularity is a team sport; you have to involve all parts of the company.
- Partnerships across industries are crucial and are already in place at a lot of companies and in various sectors.
- There has been a turnaround for around 2 years now from a push to pull; The demands of clients in providing better (more sustainable) products are a powerful driver for the circular economy.
- The submarine (U-Boot) tactic is a good choice in moving forward in terms of a circular economy.
bgreen leaders Executive Dinner
With an impulse on “Energy Transition and Carbon Circles: System Transformation, Ecosystems, Virtuous Cycles and Success Stories” with Verena Cordes (Ventilatorenfabrik Oelde GmbH, former Siemens Energy)
- Achieving the energy transition means tackling climate change. The electricity system must ensure sustainability, reliability, and affordability.
- Focus on the system, not the individual. While personal lifestyle changes are important, blaming each other is counterproductive. The most significant impact comes from altering the surrounding system
- Actions and partnerships are again essential here.
Check out some of our favorite moments of the day! ↴
Photos By: Kaiser Studios
Interested in joining events like the IFAT Munich? Join bgreen leaders and have access to a wide range of networking opportunities. bgreen leaders is a network by CIRCULAZE and the Messe München. Whether you’re a corporate or start-up representative or an investor, bgreen leaders provides a dynamic platform for exchange, collaboration, and impact.