How can quality targets be achieved with a more circular economy and the necessary employee skills strengthened? And how can the company's sustainability activities be reported without greenwashing? These challenges affect all companies in the plastics industry. For this reason, the SKZ Plastics Center is initiating two pioneering projects in which individual solutions are developed and companies benefit from the experience of others.

The transition to a circular economy is not a sure-fire success: for this reason, the SKZ is offering two pioneering projects on the subject of circular economy goals and sustainability reports. (Photo: SKZ)

SKZ supports companies in the plastics industry with two pioneering projects

The transition to a circular economy is not a foregone conclusion - for successful implementation, familiar processes must be rethought, familiar perspectives must be further developed and the changes must be supported and internalized by employees. The SKZ is therefore launching the pioneering project "Circular Economy - Step by Step" in fall 2024. The implementation-oriented project, which will run for around six months, is aimed at all companies in the plastics industry and is based on four pillars: skills development, use of recyclates, quality assurance and sustainability assessment. The overall package on offer thus aims to strengthen companies in key areas of the circular economy.

Knowledge transfer on current and future relevant issues of the circular economy
The focus is equally on imparting knowledge on current and future-relevant issues of the circular economy as well as the company's own requirements - individual solutions are offered for both in three steps: While in the first step, participating companies are given a sound introduction to various industry-relevant topics relating to the circular economy, the second step focuses on a concrete and individual feasibility analysis. The possible fields of application include, for example, the qualification of employees, the use of recycled materials taking into account specific quality requirements, the sustainability assessment of products and other use cases. In the final step of the pioneering project, the respective best practice successes are shared within the consortium in order to benefit jointly from the knowledge gained. This will enable participating companies to obtain comprehensive information on the circular economy, implement an initial pilot project, prepare strategic decisions and help shape the long-term transformation.

New EU directive on sustainability reporting as an opportunity
It is becoming increasingly important for companies to properly document and communicate their activities with regard to sustainability goals. The new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires European companies to prepare and publish a sustainability report. This obligation will apply to large companies from 2025 and to capital market-oriented SMEs with more than 250 employees from 2026. However, smaller companies that are not yet directly affected should also look into this, as many companies subject to reporting requirements pass on requirements to their suppliers.

SKZ helps to take the first step in the project "The path to the sustainability report"
A key component of a sustainability report is the materiality analysis, as this determines which of the 1,231 possible key figures are relevant for the company and must therefore be included in the report. The SKZ is helping companies to overcome the associated challenges in a second pioneering project entitled "The path to the sustainability report". It also starts in the fall and is divided into two project strands. On the one hand, the steps of the materiality analysis are presented together in group coaching sessions. In accordance with EU requirements, potentially material topics are first identified by analyzing the value chain, which are then examined and evaluated for materiality with internal and external stakeholders according to various criteria. Secondly, the SKZ supports the project partners in carrying out the materiality analysis through individual coaching. Following the nine-month pioneer project, companies know which key figures they need to report and can collect data in a targeted manner, set up sustainability monitoring and prepare the sustainability report. The SKZ is happy to accompany this process in a follow-up project.

Participation still possible
Companies that want to systematically implement their sustainability goals can still participate as project partners. With expertise in sustainability as well as process and material technology, the SKZ can provide intensive advice and support to interested partners.

Exclusive implementation projects
The SKZ's pioneering projects are exclusive projects that are jointly financed by an interested consortium of companies. The results obtained are thus exclusively available to the participating companies for further utilization.