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

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