The chance for companies to contribute to the world’s leading event: The Renewable Materials Conference
The international meeting place for the chemical, the plastics and materials industries will take place from 22 to 24 September 2025 in Siegburg/Cologne. It presents solutions and innovations for replacing fossil carbon with biomass, CO2 utilisation and recycling
The Renewable Materials Conference (RMC) in Siegburg/Cologne (Germany) is the world’s largest conference on chemicals and materials based on biomass, carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) and advanced recycling – the only alternatives to fossil-based chemicals and materials. The unique concept of presenting all renewable material solutions in one event hits the mark. It covers the entire value chain from alternative carbon feedstocks, the chemical industry, the materials sector, product manufacturers to brand owners, and also addresses investors and policy makers. Nearly 500 participants from 32 countries attended the previous conference in June 2024, 90% of whom were from industry.
For three days this year, top speakers from industry, academia and policy will present in 80 presentations, 20 panel discussions and more than ten workshops the latest fossil-free technologies, innovations, policy implications, markets and investments to an international audience of experts. Companies, associations and institutes are invited to organise their own workshops and take part in the exhibition – early booking is recommended as only a limited number of booths are available.
"The Renewable Materials Conference serves as an important platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange in the renewable materials sector", says Michael Carus, CEO of nova-Institute, and organiser of the RMC. "Our comprehensive approach covers the entire value chain, from alternative carbon feedstocks, the chemical industry, the materials sector, product manufacturers to brand owners and investors, making RMC the ultimate platform for networking and partnering in the new circular renewable carbon economy."
Call for contributions
The deadline for submitting abstracts is 16 March and 4 May for the "Renewable Material of the Year 2025" innovation award. Abstracts and innovations should be in line with the five clearly defined topics for this year.
renewable-materials.eu/call-for-abstracts/
renewable-materials.eu/award-application/
Early bird registration until 16 March (20% discount) and 17 August (10% discount)
renewable-materials.eu/registration/
The first confirmed keynote speakers can be found here: renewable-materials.eu
Five topics of the conference
Defossilisation of the Chemical Industry
This topic is the next big thing in climate change mitigation. More than 90% of the carbon embedded in chemicals and plastics is fossil carbon from the ground, which needs to be replaced by biogenic, captured and recycled carbon. Chemical companies, start-ups and industry associations are invited to present their concepts, strategies and success stories for the future of a sustainable and competitive chemicals and plastics industry. Topics include alternative feedstocks, alternative naphtha, electric cracker and non-cracker commodity production, biorefineries and more.
Fine Chemicals
The global fine chemicals market, valued at US$ 180 billion, is experiencing a surge in demand for bio-based solutions. Since fine chemicals are high-value and specialised ingredients for essential products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care products, food additives, and so on, their demand remains independent of economic cycles. Advances in biotechnology and biocatalysis are driving the development of high-purity compounds and sustainable processes. Overcoming challenges such as scalability and cost effectiveness is expected to unlock the market potential in this transition. Fine chemicals companies are invited to showcase their achievements and cutting-edge developments.
Fossil-free Plastics
Modern life is unthinkable without plastics, yet 95% of all plastics today are derived from fossil carbon from the ground – globally 4% are derived from recycling and 1% from biomass. There is a growing demand for fossil-free plastics in several product groups. Start-ups and established companies are invited to present their polymer and plastic innovations based on biomass, captured CO2 and recycling. These include packaging, consumer products, automotive, textiles and high-performance applications. The conference offers a unique opportunity to showcase alternatives to fossil plastics to brand owners and benefit from cross-sectoral discussions and networking.
Sustainable Carbon Cycles
The main objective of the Green Deal is the transition to a circular economy away from a linear production model characterised by the consumption of huge amounts of raw materials and the generation of an equal amount of waste. The concept of sustainable carbon cycles was introduced by the European Commission in 2022 and is becoming increasingly influential for future regulations and legislation. Brands, investors, policy makers and certification bodies are invited to present their visions and discuss strategies and policies for sustainable carbon cycles, circular raw materials, cascading use and zero-waste production at panel discussions and workshops.
Biodegradation
Biodegradable plastics are a complex and controversial issue. The key question is no longer whether biodegradable plastics are a good solution, but in which applications biodegradability makes sense. This is already reflected in the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which will make biodegradability mandatory for the first applications. Start-ups, companies and scientists are invited to provide in-depth information on perception, science and policy, relevance and impact, applications, benefits and risks.
Sponsors
The nova-Institute would like to thank UPM Biochemicals (FI) for supporting the conference as a platinum sponsor, as well as CO2Value Europe (EU) and TÜV Austria Belgium (BE) as gold sponsors; thanks also to Covestro (DE) for sponsoring the innovation award ‘Renewable Material of the Year 2025’.
About nova-Institute
nova-Institut GmbH has been working in the field of sustainability since the mid-1990s and focuses today primarily on the topic of renewable carbon cycles (recycling, bioeconomy and CO2 utilisation/ CCU).
As an independent research institute, nova supports in particular customers in chemical, plastics and materials industries with the transformation from fossil to renewable carbon from biomass, direct CO2 utilisation and recycling.
Both in the accompanying research of international innovation projects and in individual, scientifically based management consulting, a multidisciplinary team of scientists at nova deals with the entire range of topics from renewable raw materials, technologies and markets, economics, political framework conditions, life cycle assessments and sustainability to communication, target groups and strategy development.
50 experts from various disciplines are working together on the defossilisation of the industry and for a climate neutral future. More information at: nova-institute.eu – renewable-carbon.eu
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Source: nova-Institute, original text, 2025-01-23.