ABOUT THE EVENT
The Future is Circular
The event ‘Re-think Circular Economy Forum’ Milan 2025 will be organised on 21 and 22 May 2025 at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
Two days of meetings, debates and working tables focusing on four strategic thematic areas: Circular Cities, Circular Materials, Digital & E-waste, Textiles & Fashion. Through testimonials, case studies and concrete projects, the event will offer a place to exchange experiences, skills and visions to accelerate the transition towards sustainable models.
MACRO AREAS
Circular Cities
Urban contexts organised in a circular way; virtuous examples of cities that have undertaken the transition to a circular economy
Circular Materials
Circular Materials with a focus on the construction and design sectors; emerging trends in material reuse and regeneration
Digital & E-waste
Digital tools and applications that optimise resource use, with a focus on AI, IoT, and Blockchain; how the circular economy can address the global e-waste challenge
Textiles & Fashion
Business models and circular practices in the textile industry that aim to preserve product value through recovery, recycling and regeneration technologies, reducing waste and optimising the use of resources
Re-think as a Meeting Point for Circular Innovation
This edition of Re-think Milan will have a national and international scope, with the ambition of attracting the main players in the ecosystem. The event aims not only to represent a reference point for the Italian scene but also to foster dialogue and exchange at an international level, stimulating collective reflection on issues of global relevance. In this sense, the event will be held entirely in English to ensure an even wider participation and a direct and productive interaction between the various players involved.coinvolti.
Re-think – Circular Economy Forum addresses a diverse and dynamic audience, sharing an interest in innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability. The forum involves entrepreneurs, managers, freelancers, investors, students, innovators, creatives and representatives of public institutions, fostering dialogue between different players in the ecosystem to generate new ideas, collaborations and opportunities.
SPEAKER AND MODERATORS
PROGRAMME MAY 21
Cripta Aula Magna – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Fra Agostino Gemelli, 1, Milano MI
OPENING
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
CIRCULAR CITIES
CIRCULAR MATERIALS
DIGITAL, E-WASTE, TECHNOLOGY
CLOSING
9.00 – 9.15
Accreditation
9.15 – 9.30
Introduction and institutional greetings
SPEAKER
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
9.30 – 9.45
Netherlands’ strategies towards circular economy
SPEAKER
Mascha Baak – Embassy and Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
9.45 – 10.00
Environmental Projects for a Circular City
SPEAKER
Ilaria Giuliani – Municipality of Milan
10.00 – 10.15
An urban and regional approach to circular transformation
SPEAKER
Francesco Castellano – Tondo
10.15 – 10.30
Smart Sustainable City: from lighting systems to cities
SPEAKER
Matteo Seraceni – Gruppo Hera
10.30 – 11.00
Break
11.00 – 11.15
The Circular Economy in the Milan Integrated Water Service
SPEAKER
Andrea Volpe – MM S.p.A.
11.15 – 11.30
SAM4 – Predictive maintenance and energy effciency for the cities of the futures
SPEAKER
Edoardo Maria Nencini – Samotics
11.30 – 11.45
Enabling waste to value transformation through digital technologies
SPEAKER
Fabio Giacomo Santomauro – Omnisyst
11.45 – 12.00
Circular Cities in Action: Local Enterprises Shaping 2030
SPEAKER
Alvise Biffi – Chamber of Commerce of Milan Monza Brianza Lodi
12.00 – 12.15
Data centers: sustainable energy sources for district heating
SPEAKER
Domenico Deleo – A2A
12.15 – 12.30
Moving Milan forward: ATM’s commitment for sustainable urban change
SPEAKER
Gaia Carretta – ATM
12.30 – 12.45
Urban Air Mobility Takes Off: UrbanV and the Future of Vertiports
SPEAKER
Carlo Tursi – Urban V
12.45 – 13.00
Cultivating Inclusion and Biodiversity: The Welfare Park Lombardia Model for Sustainable Rural Development
SPEAKER
Michele Filippo Fontefrancesco e Paolo Massetti – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
13.00 – 14.00
Lunch break
14.00 – 14.15
“Growing Matter(s)”
SPEAKER
Ingrid Paoletti & Roberta Salierno – Politecnico di Milano
14.15 – 14.30
Circularity of thermoset matrix composites: Gees Recycling, technology and market
SPEAKER
Franco Mioni – Gees Recycling
14.30 – 14.45
Not Just Waste. Industrial Waste as a New Resource for Building Circularity
SPEAKER
David Callejo Munoz – RESILCO
14.45 – 15.15
Roundtable: Advanced materials for Europe’s resilience and sustainability
SPEAKER
Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete – Politecnico di Milano, Chiara Rodriquez – Materially
15.15 – 15.30
Not a linearly circular product development
SPEAKER
Nicolò Verardi – Rehouseit
15.30 – 15.45
SYSCHEMIQ – Demonstrator of SYstemic Solutions for the territorial deployment of the circular economy in the Trilateral CHEMIcal Region
SPEAKER
Claudia Doria – Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster (LE2C)
15.45 – 16.00
SMUSH: Not your average package – it comes full circle!
SPEAKER
Luca Ficarelli – Smush Materials
16.00 – 16.15
Biobased and biofabricated materials in design research
SPEAKER
Barbara Pollini – Aalto University
16.15 – 16.30
Break
16.30 – 16.45
An overview of the role of digital technologies in enabling circular economy
SPEAKER
Lucrezia Sgambaro – Politecnico di Milano
16.45 – 17.00
Legacy network decommissioning and asset lifecycle management: the Fibercop experience
SPEAKER
Umberto Ferrero – FiberCop
17.00 – 17.15
Smart Labels: Driving Sustainability in the Supply Chain
SPEAKER
Carlo Ricci – Active Label
17.15 – 17.30
The 30% problem. How AI unlocks circularity in the world’s most precious resource
SPEAKER
Robbert Lodewijks – HULO.ai
17.30 – 17.45
How Robotics and A.I. is redesigning e-waste treatment
SPEAKER
Tomaso Manca – Hiro Robotics
17.45 – 18.00
Leveraging drone technology for a new urban industry
SPEAKER
Carmine Esposito – Epm
18.00 – 18.15
How technology can enable industrial symbiosis practices
SPEAKER
Alessandra Diotti – Feralpi Group
18.15 – 18.30
Closing
SPEAKER
Mariagrazia Fanchi – ALMED – Alta Scuola in Media, Comunicazione e Spettacolo
PROGRAMME MAY 22
Cripta Aula Magna – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Fra Agostino Gemelli, 1, Milano MI
OPENING
TEXTILE & FASHION
financial & institutional ecosystem
CLOSING
9.00 – 9.15
Accreditation
9.15 – 9.45
Introduction and institutional greetings
SPEAKER
Matteo Pedrini – ALTIS – Graduate School of Sustainable Management, Ilaria Beretta – ASA – Alta Scuola per l’Ambiente
9.45 – 10.00
Circular Ecosystems & Business Models: Overcoming Industry Inertia Through Collaboration
SPEAKER
Fabian Takacs – Institute of Management and Strategy – University of St. Gallen
10.00 – 10.15
United Separable project: modularity, ecodesign and circular thinking
SPEAKER
Gabriella Maria Angela Grazianetti – Minimal Path
10.15 – 10.30
EPR regulations for the textile sector: challenges, changes, and opportunities for companies
SPEAKER
Paulina Caldarelli – Erion Textiles
10.30 – 10.45
Circular Threads 2.0: innovative textile sustainability
SPEAKER
Martina Grassi – Tondo
10.45 – 11.00
Building a Brand with Zero Waste
SPEAKER
Camilla Carrara – ZEROBARRACENTO
11.00 – 11.30
Break
11.30 – 11.45
New Fashion Business Models
SPEAKER
Stephanie Crespin – Reflaunt
11.45 – 12.00
Supporting Circular Practices in Fashion and Design: The Experience of the Municipality of Milan
SPEAKER
Serena Pelagallo – Municipality of Milan
12.00 – 12.45
Roundtable: The financial and institutional ecosystem in support of the circular economy
SPEAKER
Stefano Peroncini – Eureka!, Giacomo Salvatori – Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Giovanni Bugnotto – Cariplo Factory
12.45 – 13.00
Closing
SPEAKER
Luca Monti – Tondo
LOCATION
May 21-22 2025
Cripta Aula Magna – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Fra Agostino Gemelli, 1, 20123 Milano MI
PROMOTER & MAINS PARTNERS
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
Would you like to take part in the new edition of Re-think Milan?