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Circular Sovereignty Forum
IFAT Munich 2026
Can Europe secure the critical raw materials it needs without stepping back from global trade?
Recorded at the Circular Sovereignty Forum at IFAT Munich, with Susanne Kadner of Circular Republic, João Merico of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Roland Gauß of EIT Raw Materials, on the link between circularity, geopolitics, and supply security.
What you'll hear in this episode:
• What companies actually want from EU regulation: predictability above all. First movers need to know the rules they invested in will not be reversed by the next reform.
• Why recycling alone will not close the gap. Reuse, leasing, and product as a service have to scale alongside it, even when fast innovation cycles make reusing yesterday's components harder.
• Why venture money is shifting toward Europe as US green subsidies are rolled back, and where Europe still loses ground on a level playing field.
The episode also covers Europe's urban mines and the secondary raw materials in them, and the case for diversifying supply rather than concentrating it on single suppliers.
This is the first episode in the Circularity.fm IFAT special, recorded at IFAT.
People
Susanne Kadner, Co-Founder, Circular Republic (UnternehmerTUM)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-kadner/
João Merico, Senior Strategy Associate, Critical Minerals & Energy Transition, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-murilo-silva-merico-a88633202/
Roland Gauß, Innovation and Product Development Director, EIT RawMaterials
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-gau%C3%9F-52108b126/
Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:22 Why a Sovereignty Forum at IFAT
03:11 What companies want from Brussels: clarity and predictability
04:37 How US finance pulls startups out of Europe
05:46 Front runners vs companies waiting on Brussels
07:52 Why sovereignty needs collaboration
08:37 João Merico: why critical minerals matter
09:15 Beyond recycling: other circular business models
09:57 Reuse and fast innovation cycles
11:12 Global vs regional circular economy
12:27 Circularity and climate goals
13:45 Roland Gauß: Europe's raw materials and urban mines
14:50 The level playing field and US incentives
16:55 Winning the hesitant majority to diversify
18:42 Outro
About
IFAT is the world’s leading trade fair network for environmental technologies. It focuses on water, wastewater, waste, recycling and circularity, bringing together companies, innovators and industry professionals to present solutions for resource efficiency and sustainable infrastructure.
IFAT Munich is the flagship event of that network and the most important meeting place for the sector. It takes place every two years in Munich and showcases technologies and services for water, wastewater, waste and raw materials management, with the 2026 edition featuring around 3,400 exhibitors from about 60 countries.
Further Links
IFAT: https://ifat.de/en/
Circular Republic: https://www.circular-republic.org
UnternehmerTUM: https://www.unternehmertum.de
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
EIT RawMaterials: https://eitrawmaterials.eu
One-page Summary
Sign-up for the Circularity.fm Newsletter and get a summary with the take-aways of this episode. Register here: https://circularity.fm/episode/circular-sovereignty-forum/
View all episodes
By Patrick Hypscher
5
11 ratings
IFAT Munich 2026
Can Europe secure the critical raw materials it needs without stepping back from global trade?
Recorded at the Circular Sovereignty Forum at IFAT Munich, with Susanne Kadner of Circular Republic, João Merico of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Roland Gauß of EIT Raw Materials, on the link between circularity, geopolitics, and supply security.
What you'll hear in this episode:
• What companies actually want from EU regulation: predictability above all. First movers need to know the rules they invested in will not be reversed by the next reform.
• Why recycling alone will not close the gap. Reuse, leasing, and product as a service have to scale alongside it, even when fast innovation cycles make reusing yesterday's components harder.
• Why venture money is shifting toward Europe as US green subsidies are rolled back, and where Europe still loses ground on a level playing field.
The episode also covers Europe's urban mines and the secondary raw materials in them, and the case for diversifying supply rather than concentrating it on single suppliers.
This is the first episode in the Circularity.fm IFAT special, recorded at IFAT.
People
Susanne Kadner, Co-Founder, Circular Republic (UnternehmerTUM)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-kadner/
João Merico, Senior Strategy Associate, Critical Minerals & Energy Transition, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-murilo-silva-merico-a88633202/
Roland Gauß, Innovation and Product Development Director, EIT RawMaterials
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-gau%C3%9F-52108b126/
Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:22 Why a Sovereignty Forum at IFAT
03:11 What companies want from Brussels: clarity and predictability
04:37 How US finance pulls startups out of Europe
05:46 Front runners vs companies waiting on Brussels
07:52 Why sovereignty needs collaboration
08:37 João Merico: why critical minerals matter
09:15 Beyond recycling: other circular business models
09:57 Reuse and fast innovation cycles
11:12 Global vs regional circular economy
12:27 Circularity and climate goals
13:45 Roland Gauß: Europe's raw materials and urban mines
14:50 The level playing field and US incentives
16:55 Winning the hesitant majority to diversify
18:42 Outro
About
IFAT is the world’s leading trade fair network for environmental technologies. It focuses on water, wastewater, waste, recycling and circularity, bringing together companies, innovators and industry professionals to present solutions for resource efficiency and sustainable infrastructure.
IFAT Munich is the flagship event of that network and the most important meeting place for the sector. It takes place every two years in Munich and showcases technologies and services for water, wastewater, waste and raw materials management, with the 2026 edition featuring around 3,400 exhibitors from about 60 countries.
Further Links
IFAT: https://ifat.de/en/
Circular Republic: https://www.circular-republic.org
UnternehmerTUM: https://www.unternehmertum.de
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
EIT RawMaterials: https://eitrawmaterials.eu
One-page Summary
Sign-up for the Circularity.fm Newsletter and get a summary with the take-aways of this episode. Register here: https://circularity.fm/episode/circular-sovereignty-forum/