In the last week of January, ALPLA hosted a parliamentary evening at the Austrian Embassy in Berlin on the topic “Between Competitiveness and Climate Protection – The Future of the Circular Economy in Germany and Europe.”
Among the numerous participants from politics, industry associations, and academia, our Managing Director Markus Naumann also took part in the panel discussion. Together with Michael Thews (Deputy Chair of the Environment Committee of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag), Georg Pescher (Managing Director of ALPLA Germany), and Prof. Gabriel Felbermayr (Director of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research), they discussed key challenges and opportunities in the circular economy.
The focus was on topics such as reducing the burden on recyclable packaging and imposing higher prices on solutions that are difficult to recycle, as well as creating reliable policy guidelines and increasing recycling rates—all with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness of plastics recycling.
Georg Pescher summed up the key takeaway from the panel discussion:
“An open, constructive dialogue between policymakers, industry, and academia is crucial for effectively advancing recycling. Sustainable packaging solutions need to be prioritized both politically and economically. Without a clear regulatory framework, we will not achieve our circular economy and resource efficiency goals.”
In doing so, the event sent a strong signal about the importance of joint efforts across the entire value chain.