— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

The Advanced Recycling Conference (ARC) 2026, organised by Nova-Institute (Hürth, Germany; www.nova-institute.eu), is set to take place on 17–18 November this year in Cologne, Germany, bringing together representatives from the plastics and chemicals industries, technology providers, researchers, and policymakers.

This time, the event is focused on the transition of advanced recycling technologies from development to commercial implementation, with particular emphasis on market potential, financing, and industrial scale-up.

The programme will cover technologies including pyrolysis, dissolution, depolymerisation, and thermochemical recycling, according to Nova. Dedicated sessions will address PVC and textile recycling, PET depolymerisation, pyrolysis oil upgrading, and sustainability assessments.

EU regulatory developments will also feature prominently. With the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) introducing stricter recycled-content requirements and proposed legislation potentially increasing demand for recycled plastics in the automotive sector, discussions will examine the implications for recycling capacities, investment, and certification.

Other topics include life-cycle assessments, digitalisation, and the economic viability of advanced recycling processes.

Among the speakers, Lars Krause of the Nova-Institute will examine global advanced recycling capacities, while Leena Tähkämö of Neste will discuss life-cycle assessment challenges in chemical recycling.

David McCarthy of Topsoe and Harald Schmaderer of Linde Engineering will address pyrolysis oil upgrading and its use in steam crackers. PVC recycling is also to be in focus, with presentations by Alexander Kronimus of VinylPlus and Eric Romers of Ineos Inovyn.