"The circular economy is a strong growth driver for Evonik and helps us to generate sustainable value," said Harald Schwager, deputy chairman of Evonik’s executive board.

As part of its sustainability strategy, Evonik wants to further strengthen its activities with additives and specialties for the circular economy. At the same time, the company intends to make greater use of defossilized raw materials based on recycled materials, biomass and CO₂.

Evonik also said that it will continue to develop its own technologies for closing the loop, such as technologies for chemical recycling of PET waste streams that cannot be recycled mechanically. It is also developing technologies that allow carbon dioxide and bio-based raw materials as feedstock.

Lauren Kjeldsen, head of the Smart Materials Division and responsible for the Circular Economy Program, said: "We want to make the entire industry circular. With our expertise in specialty chemicals, we support our customers in the transition to circular applications by making their manufacturing processes more efficient and improving quality in line with Design for Circularity."

Evonik's activities are bundled in the group-wide Circular Economy Program. Program head Patrick Glöckner said: "A successful circular economy requires, above all, strong collaboration and great teamwork. Through building ecosystems with our partners, we will develop cycles along the different value chains that work."

In 2020, the group had already launched of its Global Circular Plastics Program. According to Evonik, the additional sales from these activities already amounted to more than €30 million in 2022. This exceeded the company's own expectations and Evonik had planned additional sales of at least €350 million a year by 2030.