The vunk at the specialist congress in Berlin "Status and further development of the circular economy - reuse, repair and use of resources in Germany"

On September 23, 2025, the specialist congress "Status and further development of the circular economy - reuse, repair and resource use in Germany" took place at the Haus der Kreislaufwirtschaft in Berlin (Link to the congress page). The congress marked the high-profile conclusion of the Federal Environment Agency's alliance project "Weiße Ware Wiederverwenden" (WeWaWi), which was originally scheduled to run for five years and is expected to continue until December 2025. This project focused in particular on the reuse of washing machines (Project page at the Federal Environment Agency and project page).

The specialist congress was organized by Mr. Stefan Ebelt, who led the entire day and also acted as host. Mr. Ebelt, a member of the vunk advisory board, is a board member of ReUse e. V. Berlin and a key player in the circular economy. Through his involvement in the UBA alliance project "Weiße Ware Wiederverwenden", he has played a key role in shaping the project.

Among the most important participants at the congress were all those actively involved in the WeWaWi project. In addition to leading German manufacturers such as Bosch Siemens household appliances and Miele, numerous other stakeholders also took part, including:

• Representatives of the Federal Environment Agency, which is responsible for the development and ongoing amendment of the currently valid Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) (Link to ElektroG),
• a large, multinational specialist retailer of electrical appliances,
• representatives of German primary treatment facilities and Belgian and French reuse organizations,
• innovative repair companies and
• experts from the raw materials industry.

The vunk was represented by Professor Dr. Peter Heidrich, who took part in the congress as a long-standing and active member of the project advisory board. He was also a participant in the panel discussion entitled "Reuse 2030 - Are we on the right track?" (Program of the congress). As the originally planned moderator was unable to attend at short notice, Professor Heidrich also took over the moderation of this panel discussion.