Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl

EU 2030 – Developing the circular economy into a location factor (DGAW, 20.6.2025, in German)

June 26, 2025

At the DGAW specialist event on 20.6.2025 in Berlin on the topic of EU 2030 – Developing the circular economy into a location factor, the contribution that the circular economy can make to defossilizing the use of raw materials in the chemical industry was discussed. In his introductory speech, Prof. Dr. Uwe Lahl presented the DGAW position paper EU 2030 – Developing the circular economy into a location factor. He pointed out that the technical and political debate on climate protection focuses too much on the defossilization of the energy sector. “What is missing is an understanding of the importance of substances and molecules for defossilization”.

A critical aspect of the defossilisation of the industry is the focus of legislation in Brussels, which on the one hand places far too much emphasis on the hydrogen path and at the same time over-regulates initial investments in the development of infrastructure. In the past, Germany has also focused one-sidedly on financial support for individual transformation projects (capex funding). Current developments show that it is politically easier to implement these subsidies. However, this is not enough because the framework conditions must also be created so that the defossilized products are competitive and are then also purchased. In contrast, the DGAW position paper calls for a smart policy mix for the necessary regulation, which on the one hand sets binding targets at the level of the individual companies, but on the other hand also promotes the creation of reliable markets for defossilized products.

The updated version of his presentation is now available for download.

Presentation (in German)

DGAW, 2025

Müll und Abfall 5, 2025

OPEN ACCESS now: Third-generation biodegradable plastics—A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem

June 25, 2025

The amount of plastic produced worldwide has reached 400 million metric tonnes in 2022. Estimated 3–5% of this amount ends up in the environment, where it poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. Littering, a growing global challenge, requires a combination approach to tackle its causes and mitigate its impact. There are different strategies to combat littering. But even with immediate and concerted action to reduce consumption of plastics, more than 700 million tonnes of plastic waste will cumulatively enter the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems until 2040. Waste management systems, even if improved, do not have sufficient capacity at the global level to cope with the huge mass of plastics entering the environment. Especially for plastic, which will foreseeable and inevitably enter the environment, where it can persist for hundreds of years (‘forever’ plastics), a solution is needed. Biodegradable plastics, that meet the criteria of ‘Safe and Sustainable by Design’ (SSbD) offer innovation perspectives and can be a complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem.

We are very pleased to announce that the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research – Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT) has granted open access to our joint article „Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem“ due to high demand.

Lahl, R., Bleischwitz, R., Lahl, U., Zeschmar-Lahl, B. (2025): Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem. Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 44, 101925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2025.101925

Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 44, 101925 (Open Access)

ABAS recommendation on communication in the event of under- or overestimated risks from biological substances published (in German)

June 6, 2025

The recommendation of the ABAS (Committee on Biological Agents) on Communication in the event of underestimated or overestimated risks from biological agents dated April 24, 2024 (long and short version, only in German) can now be accessed on the homepage of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). The recommendation is based on the preliminary work of the Risk Communication Working Group of the ABAS Subcommittee (UA) 2, in which Dr. Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl also participated.

DOWNLOAD BAuA-Homepage

DGAW-Podcast Episode 49 – The development of waste management into an industrial location factor – Europe after 2030 (Part 2) (in German)

June 4, 2025 The circular economy undoubtedly plays an important role in achieving the European climate protection targets by 2050. Dr. Beate Kummer (Director Public Affairs/Sustainability at Christ&Company) and Prof. Dr. Uwe Lahl (BZL Kommunikation/Sustainability) discussed the fundamental adjustments required to develop the carbon cycle as a location factor for European industry and what contribution the waste industry can make here in the DGAW podcast ‘Ressourcen Neu Denken’, episode 48. In this podcast episode, they continue the discussion on strengthening Europe as an industrial location and closing the carbon cycle with a particular focus on the political framework conditions and short and medium-term proposed solutions. The postcast is again hosted by Marvin Müller from Studio Grüner Ton. To the podcasts:

Further publications on this topic:

Gosten A., Holländer R., Kummer B., Lahl U., Quicker P., Reichert D., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2025): Europa nach 2030 – Die Entwicklung der Abfallwirtschaft zum industriellen Standortfaktor. Müll und Abfall 5, 277-296. ONLINE
DGAW: DGAW-Positionspapier: EU nach 2030, Kurzfassung (in German). ONLINE
Lahl U., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2024): Material Recycling of Plastics—A Challenge for Sustainability. Sustainability 2024, 16, 6630. ONLINE

Europe after 2030 – The development of waste management into an industrial location factor (Müll und Abfall, 2025, in German)

Gosten A., Holländer R., Kummer B., Lahl U., Quicker P., Reichert D., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2025): Europa nach 2030 – Die Entwicklung der Abfallwirtschaft zum industriellen Standortfaktor. Müll und Abfall 5, 277-296

„After almost 40 years of amendments to the existing Waste Management and Circular Economy Act, it is time to reprioritise legislation in the coming German and European legislative periods in order to combine the aspects of resources,
climate neutrality, environmental impact and Europe as a business location.

The development or transformation of waste management can make an important contribution to maintaining Europe as an industrial location.

To achieve this, the existing legal framework, which begins with the last user’s ‚will to dispose‘ of a product, must be changed. The structures, terminology and objectives of the relevant laws must be redefined and adjusted.

To this end, ten priority fields of action with concrete implementation proposals and regulatory recommendations for political and social decision-makers are presented. It not only explains why the carbon cycle is a leading factor for the further development of waste management and Europe as a business location, but also which regulatory levers should be activated.“

Müll und Abfall 5 (2025)

Europe after 2030 – The development of waste management into an industrial location factor (Müll und Abfall, 2025, in German)

May 16, 2025

The contribution by Dr.-Ing. Alexander Gosten, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Holländer, Dr. Beate Kummer, Prof. Dr. habil. Uwe Lahl, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Quicker, Dr. Dirk Reichert and Dr. Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl on the topic “Europe after 2030 – The development of waste management into an industrial location factor” was published in the journal Müll und Abfall 5, 2025 (in German, Abstract in English).

„After almost 40 years of amendments to the existing Waste Management and Circular Economy Act, it is time to reprioritise legislation in the coming German and European legislative periods in order to combine the aspects of resources, climate neutrality, environmental impact and Europe as a business location.

The development or transformation of waste managementcan make an important contribution to maintaining Europe as an industrial location.

To achieve this, the existing legal framework, which begins with the last user’s ‚will to dispose‘ of a product, must be changed. The structures, terminology and objectives of the relevant laws must be redefined and adjusted.

To this end, ten priority fields of action with concrete implementation proposals and regulatory recommendations for political and social decision-makers are presented. It not only explains why the carbon cycle is a leading factor for the further development of waste management and Europe as a business location, but also which regulatory levers should be activated.“

Below you will find a link to the order form at Erich Schmidt Verlag. The DGAW position paper based on this publication – EU nach 2030 (in German) – can be downloaded from the DGAW website.

The ten priorities

Waste prevention must start with production
End the landfilling of recyclable carbon
Ensure a climate-neutral supply of raw materials
Defossilization through substitution of carbon
Equivalence of recycling technologies
No ‘toxic’ plastic recycling
Transparency of formulations
Plastic products that are released into the environment as intended must also be fully biodegradable
Individualize extended product responsibility systems
Reduce bureaucracy

Müll und Abfall 5, 2025

DGAW, 2025

DGAW-Podcast Episode 48 – The development of waste management into an industrial location factor – Europe after 2030 (in German)

May 7, 2025 The circular economy undoubtedly plays an important role in achieving the European climate protection targets by 2050. Dr. Beate Kummer (Director Public Affairs/Sustainability at Christ&Company) and Prof. Dr. Uwe Lahl (BZL Kommunikation und Projektsteuerung GmbH) discuss the fundamental adjustments required to develop the carbon cycle as a location factor for European industry and what contribution the waste industry can make here in the DGAW podcast ‘Ressourcen Neu Denken’, moderated by Marvin Müller from Studio Grüner Ton. To the podcast:

DGAW: Ressourcen.Neu.Denken. Podcast, Episode 48 (in German)

Further publications on this topic:

Gosten A., Holländer R., Kummer B., Lahl U., Quicker P., Reichert D., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2025): Europa nach 2030 – Die Entwicklung der Abfallwirtschaft zum industriellen Standortfaktor. Müll und Abfall 5, 277-296, in print (in German)
DGAW: DGAW-Positionspapier: EU nach 2030, Kurzfassung (in German). ONLINE
Lahl U., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2024): Material Recycling of Plastics—A Challenge for Sustainability. Sustainability 2024, 16, 6630. ONLINE

Global Framework on Chemicals: Work on the German contribution

April 8, 2025 For a few weeks now, BZL GmbH has been working as part of a consortium on a project that will promote sustainable chemistry as part of the global transformation in line with the UN 2030 Agenda. The “Roadmap to 2030” research project (commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency, FKZ: 3724 65 701 0) aims to identify and prepare Germany’s potential contributions to the implementation of the GFC. Three priorities for the German contribution to the GFC In coordination with the client, we will work with stakeholders from the chemical industry, recycling companies, consumer and environmental organizations to try to reach a consensus that is as broadly supported as possible. It is about

the “defossilization of the chemical industry”, focusing on the opportunities and obstacles for the German chemical industry to switch from fossil to renewable carbon sources,
a methodological framework to put alternative assessments for substance substitution towards “inherently safe chemicals” on a scientifically broadly accepted basis,
the use of the Digital Product Passport as an information medium for additives in plastics with a special focus on additives for recyclates, i.e. plastics from the recycling of waste.

We are pleased that we are tackling this task together with colleagues who have already been involved in the development of suitable indicators for SAICM and the successor organization GFC: the Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), N³ Nachhaltigkeitsberatung Dr. Friege & Partner and the Akademie Dr. Obladen. We will contact numerous experts and also provide information here about specialist conferences that are planned as part of the project. Further information on the project can be found in this information sheet:

See also our News from October 1, 2024 and our publication from the year 2024: Friege H., Heidbüchel E., Zeschmar-Lahl B.: Indicators for sustainable management of chemicals. Contributions to upcoming development work under the new Global Framework for Chemicals. Publisher: German Environment Agency.

Further links:

Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem (2025)

The amount of plastic produced worldwide has reached 400 million metric tonnes in 2022. Estimated 3–5% of this amount ends up in the environment, where it poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. Littering, a growing global challenge, requires a combination approach to tackle its causes and mitigate its impact. There are different strategies to combat littering. But even with immediate and concerted action to reduce consumption of plastics, more than 700 million tonnes of plastic waste will cumulatively enter the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems until 2040. Waste management systems, even if improved, do not have sufficient capacity at the global level to cope with the huge mass of plastics entering the environment. Especially for plastic, which will foreseeable and inevitably enter the environment, where it can persist for hundreds of years (‘forever’ plastics), a solution is needed. Biodegradable plastics, that meet the criteria of ‘Safe and Sustainable by Design’ (SSbD) offer innovation perspectives and can be a complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem.

Lahl, R., Bleischwitz, R., Lahl, U., Zeschmar-Lahl, B. (2025): Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem. Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 2025, 44, 101925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2025.101925

Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy (2025)

Third-generation biodegradable plastics—A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem

February 24, 2025

The amount of plastic produced worldwide has reached 400 million metric tonnes in 2022. Estimated 3–5% of this amount ends up in the environment, where it poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. Littering, a growing global challenge, requires a combination approach to tackle its causes and mitigate its impact. There are different strategies to combat littering. But even with immediate and concerted action to reduce consumption of plastics, more than 700 million tonnes of plastic waste will cumulatively enter the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems until 2040. Waste management systems, even if improved, do not have sufficient capacity at the global level to cope with the huge mass of plastics entering the environment. Especially for plastic, which will foreseeable and inevitably enter the environment, where it can persist for hundreds of years (‘forever’ plastics), a solution is needed. Biodegradable plastics, that meet the criteria of ‘Safe and Sustainable by Design’ (SSbD) offer innovation perspectives and can be a complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem.

Lahl, R., Bleischwitz, R., Lahl, U., Zeschmar-Lahl, B. (2025): Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem. Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 44, 101925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2025.101925

Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 44, 101925

About Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl