Plastic. Climate. Future.

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.
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What if the future of plastics doesn’t start in a lab, but in a design studio?
In this episode of Plastic. Climate. Future., we speak with Beat Karrer, founder of FluidSolids, who took an unconventional path from industrial design into material innovation — developing high-performance materials made entirely from waste streams.
From corn cobs to coffee waste, his work challenges a fundamental assumption: that plastics must come from fossil resources.
We explore:
How waste streams can become high-performance material feedstock
Why design thinking is a powerful (and often overlooked) driver of material innovation
What it takes to scale new materials — from pilot to industrial production
Why circularity depends on systems, not just materials
A refreshing and grounded perspective on what it really takes to rethink plastics, not just replace them.
🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Circularity isn’t just about materials. It’s about energy.
In this episode of Plastic. Climate. Future., we speak with Constantine Lau from Schneider Electric, who is leading electrification strategies for some of the world’s most energy-intensive industries.
With decades of experience across oil, gas, and chemicals, Constantine shares why the shift from managing molecules to managing electrons may be one of the most underestimated levers for circular transformation.
We explore:
Why electrification is central to scaling circular systems
How digitalization and energy management reshape industrial operations
The connection between decarbonization and circularity
Why ROI and regulatory clarity must align for real impact
A strategic, forward-looking conversation about how energy systems and circular systems are more connected than we often think.
🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

What if the breakthrough in plastic recycling doesn’t come from higher temperatures or bigger reactors — but from biology?
In this episode of Plastic. Climate. Future., we speak with Oliver Borek from Entzimatiko, a company developing a novel enzymatic technology that goes beyond conventional chemical recycling.
Their approach combines enzyme engineering, nano-encapsulation, and oxidation in a single-step process — operating at ambient conditions and targeting even the toughest materials, including polyolefins.
We explore:
Why polyolefins have long been considered “uncrackable” — and what may be changing
How enzymatic machinery differs from pyrolysis and hydrothermal methods
What low-temperature, solvent-free processing could mean for cost and scalability
Why competitiveness with fossil equivalents is critical for real impact
The roadmap to commercial scale by 2030
A fascinating conversation about science, risk, and what it takes to move breakthrough technology from lab to market.
If circularity is to scale, innovation must go beyond incremental change. This episode dives into what that could look like.
🎧 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

We’re kicking off the next series of Plastic. Climate. Future. —𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 — a 12-month journey exploring the innovations, systems, and people shaping a circular plastics economy.
𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟏: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲: 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆?
We kick things off by tackling a major roadblock on the path to circularity: packaging systems that lack transparency, traceability, and integration.
Our guests — Valeria Masci and Ignacio Fernández-Pacheco Ruiz from the MAGNO project — share how advanced modeling and data tools are helping map packaging flows, identify inefficiencies, and design solutions that actually work at scale.
𝗪𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲:
Why packaging data is fragmented — and how digital twins could help
What it takes to trace, model, and redesign circular flows
How collaboration across brands, suppliers, and policymakers is both the challenge and the opportunity
A forward-looking start to a year of ideas that move us from ambition to action.