The new patron thanked the young entrepreneurs for their courage and creativity. She met with them to learn how to promote the circular economy and how the state government can improve its support. "What can we do for you?" the minister asked founders after presenting their projects to her.


Commenting on her visit, Mona Neubaur then said, "We need to think and act in terms of closed loops as much as possible in order to secure the economic and social benefits of resources in the long term, to remain fit for the future and at the same time to protect the foundations of our planet. The efficient use of raw materials and energy helps protect the climate, stabilizes economic cycles and thus also secures our prosperity. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war have shown that international supply chains have fragile structures. North Rhine-Westphalia has enormous innovative strength - especially in the area of circular value creation. We must make use of these strengths our location provides!

The minister thus emphasized that the circular economy plays an important role for the new state government in North Rhine-Westphalia. The coalition agreement between the CDU and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen states: "The transformation to a comprehensive circular economy is crucial for achieving climate targets. At the same time, it enables enormous opportunities for sustainable economic development, job effects and effective resource protection. Initiatives such as "Circular Valley" or "Greentech.Ruhr" and the leading research landscape in the Ruhr region in particular already have radiance far beyond North Rhine-Westphalia."


Correspondingly, Circular Valley® was among the new minister's first stops on her summer trip. "For us, being mentioned by name in the coalition agreement and Mona Neubaur's visit are a great confirmation of the work we started here a year ago," said initiator Dr. Carsten Gerhardt. Wuppertal's mayor Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind confirmed the importance. He said, referring to the internationality of the startups:

"Our goal is a sustainable circular economy that is in harmony with the environment and the climate - in Germany and worldwide. We need the innovative power of startups from all over the world to develop resource-conserving products that can also be repaired and reused wherever possible. Because that's how we avoid waste. And we need orderly waste management and recycling. The aim of our work is to establish a functioning waste and recycling management system in developing and emerging countries that provides better working and living conditions for people along the value chain."

produces textile and plastic components for footwear and leather goods, which are supplied to the automotive industry and construction sectorDie Startups der dritten Kohorte haben in den drei Monaten des Circular-Economy-Accelerator-Programms zahlreiche Unternehmen in der erweiterten Rhein-Ruhr-Region besucht. Sie haben exklusive und tiefe Einblicke in die Produktion gewonnen, viel über die zirkuläre Transformation in der Praxis gelernt – und im übertragenen Sinne eine Exkursion entlang der Wertstoffkette gemacht.

The beginning, i.e. the topic of raw materials, was the focus at the Oetelshofen lime works. The company quarries limestone and manufactures high-quality lime products. Further, the startups learned how various raw materials are processed and supplied to industrial companies: Gebrüder Jaeger produces textile and plastic components for footwear and leather goods, which are supplied to the automotive industry and construction sector.

Huehoco finishes metal strips for more than 30 industries worldwide. And Coroplast 's three business units are "Tape" (adhesive tapes), "Coroflex" (cables and wires) and "WeWire" (cable harnesses).

The other points along a supply chain were also part of the program: Knipex produces 70,000 pliers a day for end customers and also impressed the participants of the excursion with its project to increase biodiversity on the company premises. Hagedorn gave the visitors in Gütersloh new perspectives on concrete and the possibilities of reusing it. The Metabolon project , in turn, presented its path from being a landfill to an innovation site for material conversion, environmental technology and renaturation. And the visit to Carboliq was exciting in two ways, because the company itself was part of the third batch - and was able to show the colleagues how far its recycling process, in which new polymers are created, has come.

It is a well-known fact that emissions and scarcity of raw materials affect all of humanity. However, the fact that achieving a circular economy is a necessary and at the same time viable way to alleviate both problems has not yet spread everywhere. That is why public relations is one of the core tasks of the Circular Valley® Foundation.

"Circular Valley® is much more than just the accelerator program. We want to take people in our metropolitan region with us and get them excited about the topic so that they not only notice that something great is being created here, but they also feel part of it," explains Jan Turek of Circular Valley®, who co-initiated the first cooperation with the Wuppertal Media Project.

The media project is an institution that has been enabling young people to make their own films for 30 years now. Recently, students who are involved in student companies for sustainability at their schools (Realschule Leimbacher Straße, Gymnasium Bayreuther Straße and Wilhelm Dörpfeld Gymnasium) had the opportunity to visit startups from the Circular Economy Accelerator program - and film them.

The result is three ten-minute films in which the young people first explain their student company and then a Circular Valley® startup, and finally talk to its team. The films, which were made with the kind support of the startups Transfairbag, (1), Bioweg (2) and Carboliq (3), can be seen here:

The Ruhr region hosted an event for the circular economy in September. Over three and a half days, the various aspects of the topic were discussed at the Circular Economy Hotspot in Bottrop: with visits to pioneers from the Circular Valley® region, discussions and workshops on the state of transformation (including with Circular Valley initiator Carsten Gerhardt) and a special on German-Dutch cooperation in chemical recycling.

The network around the Circular Valley Foundation continues to grow. The initiative's latest partners are Komatsu and Evonik. The Japanese Komatsu Group has its German headquarters in Düsseldorf and, as the world's second-largest construction machinery manufacturer, has a wide-ranging interest in advances in the circular economy. Evonik, the Essen-based chemical specialist, is also looking forward to the impulses from Circular Valley® with regards to transformation.

Anyone who comes to the viewing platform of the Wuppertal Gaskessel (Mohrenstraße 3) will find more than just a great view on the Rhine-Ruhr region. On top of the landmark, visitors can look into the past, as well as into the future.

Until next year, Circular Valley® will be showing an exhibition there that illustrates the importance of the region for the history of industrialization. For instance, the industrial revolution on the European mainland began just where the Gaskessel is located. The fact that the next revolution in our economic system could also take place in this environment is presented by other exhibtion panels, which present Circular Valley® and its goals for the global circular economy.

Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum, Chief Scientist of the Circular Valley® Foundation, has created new awareness and enthusiasm for the ideas of the circular economy in several places in recent weeks. "It only takes 2ct to a closed loop" was the title of a scenario he presented in Cologne. The Röchling Foundation and WiderSense had invited selected experts to the first face-to-face event of their „PolyProblem" format since 2019. The positive result of the thought experiment:

Openness and confidentiality do not have to be contradictory. This was proven once again at the second Circular Valley® Partner Talk. The representatives from various industries clearly felt they were in good hands. They discussed both constructively and controversial about the challenges of the Circular Economy - and for much longer than initially anticipated. Without anyone noticing, it had already become half past nine. "My best appointment in months," said one of the participants afterwards.