On November 13, 2025, the Strategic Development Workshop on Circular Economy in the Plastics Industry, powered by the Plan-C project (Moving Plastics and Machine Industry towards Circularity), took place in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. The event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss sustainable solutions for the plastics sector, focusing on improving circularity across the product lifecycle.
The workshop was organized with the collaboration of key partners: Romanian Cluster Association – CLUSTERO, Bucharest, Romania, “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry – ICMPP, Iași, Romania, and SORINTEX from Republic of Moldova. These organizations played a crucial role in facilitating cross-border knowledge exchange and supporting the development of practical, innovative strategies for the plastics industry.
Representatives from private companies, research institutions, and industry associations participated in the workshop. Their combined expertise enabled a comprehensive discussion of challenges and opportunities in the sector, including technological, economic, and regulatory aspects.
The main themes of the workshop included identifying hurdles to circularity, such as difficulties in plastic waste collection and sorting, limited access to advanced recycling technologies, insufficient funding, and regulatory gaps. Participants also explored potential lifts, or solutions, to overcome these challenges, including favourable legislation, reuse of industrial waste, digitalization of recycling processes, advanced sorting technologies, collaborative networks, and eco-design practices.
A key part of the workshop was the discussion of track sections for plastics producers, covering Waste Collection, Waste Sorting, Reintegration of Recycled Plastics, Product Design, and Use/Reuse. Additionally, participants assessed the hurdles faced by machine producers and considered ways in which plastics processors could collaborate to improve energy efficiency, maintenance, spare parts availability, and component reuse.
The outcomes of the workshop include a roadmap for strengthening circularity in the plastics sector, with prioritized lifts based on feasibility and usefulness. The event highlighted the importance of collaboration across private companies, research institutions, and associations, promoting practical solutions for a more sustainable and circular plastics industry.
