Latest information on the world’s largest conference for innovative and renewable chemicals and materials, fossil-free plastics and political framework conditions from September 22-24, 2025 in Siegburg near Cologne
The Renewable Materials Conference (RMC), organized by the nova-Institute, presents leading solutions and innovations for the substitution of fossil carbon with biomass, CO₂ utilization and recycling. The growing success of the RMC shows that its unique concept of presenting all solutions for renewable materials at one event is working. In just a few years, the conference has established itself as the global meeting place for the renewable carbon economy. A highlight of the conference will be the presentation of the “Renewable Material of the Year 2025” innovation award.
The RMC covers the entire value chain – from alternative carbon sources, the chemical industry, the materials sector, product manufacturers and brand owners to investors and political decision-makers. The last conference in June 2024 attracted almost 500 participants from 32 countries, 90% of whom came from industry. This year, over 500 participants are expected to attend 75 presentations, 20 panel discussions and up to 12 workshops.
Detailed information on the conference can be found here: https://renewable-materials.eu
Five key topics of the conference
Defossilization of the chemical industry
More than 90% of the carbon embedded in chemicals and plastics comes from fossil sources and must be replaced by biogenic, captured or recycled carbon. Chemical companies, start-ups and industry associations present their concepts, strategies and success stories for a sustainable and competitive chemical and plastics industry. Topics include alternative raw materials, alternative naphtha, electric crackers and mass production without crackers using methanol and ethanol, biotechnology and biorefineries. This session includes 14 presentations, complemented by five additional presentations on lignocellulosic biorefineries and lignin utilization.
Fine chemicals
The global fine chemicals market, which is worth USD 180 billion, is experiencing growing demand for bio-based solutions. As fine chemicals are high-value and specialized ingredients for essential products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care products and food additives, their demand remains stable regardless 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 efficiency is seen as key to unlocking market potential. Companies from the fine chemicals sector will present their successes and latest developments in six lectures.
Fossil-free plastics
95% of all plastics today are made from fossil carbon – 4% worldwide come from recycling and 1% from biomass. The demand for fossil-free plastics is growing in various product groups. Start-ups and established companies present polymer and plastics innovations based on biomass, captured CO₂ and recycling. These include packaging, consumer goods, automotive materials, textiles and high-performance applications. With 22 presentations, the conference offers brand owners unique insights into alternatives to fossil-based plastics. They will benefit from cross-industry discussions and networking. As part of this session, six nominated companies will compete for the “Renewable Material of the Year 2025” innovation award.
Framework conditions for renewable carbon
The main objective of the Green Deal is the transition from a linear to a circular economy. This should reduce the use of fossil fuels and reduce the amount of waste. The concept of sustainable carbon cycles was introduced by the European Commission in 2022 and is becoming increasingly important for future regulations and legislation. What political and economic framework is needed to support the transition to renewable carbon? Eleven lectures, panel discussions and workshops are dedicated to this topic.
Biodegradability
Biodegradable plastics are a complex and controversial topic. The central question is no longer whether biodegradable plastics are a good solution, but for which applications biodegradability makes sense. This is already reflected in the new European packaging regulation (PPWR), which stipulates biodegradability for the first applications. In eleven presentations and an accompanying workshop, start-ups, companies and universities will provide well-founded insights into perspectives, scientific and political developments, relevance and effects, applications, benefits and risks.
The final program with speakers, titles and the agenda can be found here:
www.renewable-materials.eu/program/
Take advantage of the 10% discount on the participation fee if you register by August 17:
www.renewable-materials.eu/registration/
Six nominees for the Innovation Award
Once again this year, the conference’s Advisory Board had the difficult task of selecting the six most promising materials from numerous excellent submissions for the “Renewable Material of the Year 2025” award sponsored by Covestro. During the conference, the audience will vote for the winner.
Read the entire press release now: