The INCIRCULAR project has officially reached a inspiring milestone with its closing conference, held on 24th September 2026 at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) in Ljubljana. Under the theme “Looping Circular Plastics Innovation Across Allied European Regions”, the event gathered key industrial stakeholders, regional policymakers, technology innovators, and research institutions to celebrate the remarkable results achieved throughout the project’s journey.
The conference served as a collaborative platform to discuss future funding mechanisms, align with evolving European policy frameworks, and showcase tangible project outcomes. Beyond high-level discussions, participants engaged during dedicated networking sessions and explored a physical exhibition of advanced circular materials fabrication process, equipment models, and industrial replicators produced across INCIRCULAR partners’ regions.
Below is a comprehensive recap of the day’s agenda, accompanied by the full event recording and highlights from our expert speakers.
Welcome Remarks & Project Impact: Setting the Horizon for Circularity
The final conference opened with welcome addresses establishing the critical role of interregional collaboration to bring innovation into the market and scale circular solutions. Dr. Aleš Hančič (Managing Director at TECOS) highlighted how INCIRCULAR served as a strategic catalyst for the Slovenian and wider European manufacturing ecosystem. Caterina Verde (Project Officer at EISMEA) provided a European perspective on how the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument supports investment readiness and cross-border innovation transfer.
Following the opening remarks, Dr. Vesna Žepič Bogataj (INCIRCULAR Project Coordinator – TECOS) delivered a comprehensive overview of the core impacts, key results, and valuable lessons learned throughout the INCIRCULAR project journey.
Keynote Speakers: Strategic Perspectives on Plastic Circularity in Europe
The morning keynote session brought three distinct industry perspectives to the table, examining how circular design, evolving regulations, and digital traceability are transforming European value chains:
- Ecodesign & Product Life Cycles: Katarzyna Śliwa (CEO of Ergodesign) delivered an inspiring keynote on transitioning from waste management to holistic circular design, showing how environmental goals can be translated into market-ready products and sustainable business solutions.
- Automotive & Mobility Sector: James Howson (Mechanical Design Engineer at Adria Mobil Ltd.) discussed the impact of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) regulations on mobility design, demonstrating how lightweight engineering and recycled polymers shape next-generation vehicles.
- Consumer Goods & Digital Traceability: Urška Butolen (Head of Corporate Sustainability Management at Hisense Europe / Gorenje) outlined the practical implementation of Digital Product Passports (DPP) and ESG strategies in consumer appliances to drive transparency and secondary material uptake.
Policy & Strategy Panel: Building Interregional Investment Pipelines
To bridge regional policy with industrial execution, Tomislav Pinter (Policy Analyst, European Commission – DG REGIO) and Caterina Verde (EISMEA) presented the strategic outlook of the I3 Instrument, showcasing how interregional cooperation accelerates sustainable investments in less-developed and transition regions.
This was followed by an interactive transnational discussion panel moderated by Jorge Contreras Ubric (UJA) to address bottlenecks in circular material flows, regulatory barriers, and regional smart specialisation strategies. The panel featured diverse voices from across the European circular ecosystem:
- Dr. Aleš Hančič (TECOS)
- Caterina Verde (EISMEA)
- Tomislav Pinter (DG REGIO)
- Dr. Draško Veselinovič (Slovenian Business and Research Association – SBRA)
- Silvester Bolka (Faculty of Polymer Technology – UP FTPO)
- Urška Butolen (Hisense Europe / Gorenje)
- James Howson (Adria Mobil Ltd.)
- Marko Omahen (OMAPLAST)
Regional Replication: Expanding Circular Practices in Andalusia & Slovenia
A core pillar of the INCIRCULAR vision is ensuring that validated circular business models and technologies are successfully replicated across less-developed European regions. During this block, Dr. Raúl Carrillo Beltrán (EcoCastulum) presented concrete strategies for industrial symbiosis and valorisation of industrial residues in the Andalusia region.
Dr. Vesna Žepič Bogataj (TECOS) followed with insights on transferring validated R&D material technologies into commercial applications within the Slovenian industrial ecosystem.
INCIRCULAR Cascade-Funded Innovation Projects
One of the main highlights of the afternoon was the pitch session featuring the technical results and commercial expansion of six innovative SME projects funded through the INCIRCULAR Cascade Funding Scheme. These pitch presentations demonstrated cutting-edge digital, mechanical, and material solutions for plastic recycling:
- WR-KNIVES: Presented by Luka Pušnik (TRO Cutting Tools), showcasing advanced powder-metallurgy steels to extend the lifespan of industrial shredding knives.
- CLARA: Presented by José Ramón Vilanova Sánchez (Rovimatica), featuring automated vision systems to improve plastic-waste sorting precision.
- MOIK: Presented by Dr. Alen Šapek (Additio), demonstrating metallised industrial knives engineered for high-wear plastic granulation processes.
- PLASTNIR: Presented by Guilherme Felipe Pacheco Braga (ISR), introducing NIR spectroscopy combined with machine learning for technical thermoplastic identification.
- SMART-MOLD: Presented by Ondřej Maršíček (Logix), highlighting telemetry, digital twins, and deep learning for anomaly detection in injection moulding.
- PITS: Presented by Clara Spetebroodt (Plas’tri), demonstrating hyperspectral sensing and AI for accurate polymer identification.
Projects Synergies: Learning from Sister I3 Projects
To strengthen European cross-project collaboration, the final session welcomed representatives from fellow I3-funded initiatives to share insights on scaling circular manufacturing technologies:
- DEREMCO (I3 Strand 1): Silvester Bolka (UP FTPO) presented DEREMCO’s achievements in demonstrating circular composite technologies and reuse solutions for high-value industrial applications.
- SICAPERMA (I3 Strand 2a): Jorge Contreras Ubric (University of Jaén) showcased SICAPERMA’s progress in catalysing investments for rare-earth magnet recycling and securing critical raw material supply chains.
Looking Ahead: The Legacy of INCIRCULAR
Although the INCIRCULAR project has formally reached its conclusion in September 2026, its results provide a practical basis for further work on circular plastics, industrial replication and interregional cooperation. The approaches and solutions developed through the project can support organisations seeking to respond to evolving ecodesign requirements, increase the use of recycled materials and transfer circular innovations across sectors and regions.
We sincerely thank all project partners, speakers, SME innovators and participants who contributed to the final conference and to INCIRCULAR as a whole.
The knowledge, resources and exchanges created throughout INCIRCULAR remain available to explore. The project website brings together its main results and solutions, the YouTube channel offers recordings of events and presentations, and the LinkedIn page captures the milestones, people and collaborations behind the project. Together, these channels make it possible to revisit INCIRCULAR and draw on its experience as work towards more circular uses of plastics continues across Europe.