Circular Valley adds Henkel as member

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, a Germany-based multinational chemical and consumer goods company with Loctite as its best-known brand, has joined the Circular Valley consortium. That initiative, also based in Germany, focuses on attracting and connecting recycling-related companies to Germany’s traditional manufacturing hub in the Rhine-Ruhr River Valleys region.

Henkel and Circular Valley signed an agreement designed to “advance the circular economy, develop Germany’s wider Rhine-Ruhr region as a central location for it and collaborate with young companies and science.”

“The partnership with Circular Valley enables us to pursue our ambitions in the field of circular economy with a strong partner,” says Thorsten Bastigkeit, research and development director at Henkel. “Together, we will exchange ideas on new technologies and innovative approaches, share knowledge and best practices, and set new impulses in order to join forces to further advance the transformation toward a circular economy.”

Other Circular Valley members include BASF, Bayer, Evonik, Knipe and Vorwerk and scientific institutions such as the Fraunhofer Umsicht Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Wuppertal Institute. Through the initiative, they connect with more than 70 startups from around the world in what Circular Valley calls a network that has been brought together and supported in the Rhine-Ruhr region in the past two years.

The Circular Valley Foundation, which manages the initiative, says its mission is to close material loops along existing value chains, develop policy recommendations and inform the public about the circular economy.

“Henkel will be a great new partner to our network, and at an ideal time,” says Carsten Gerhardt, founder of Circular Valley and board chair of the foundation. “For the next phase of the accelerator program starting in late summer, we have specifically called for applications from young startups that develop circular solutions for consumer goods packaging. The exchange with our new partner Henkel will be very exciting for both sides.”

The 2023 Circular Valley Forum has been scheduled for Nov. 16 in Wuppertal, Germany, with the foundation saying it expects “more than 1,000 decision-makers from business, politics and science will come together to discuss new ideas and approaches.”