Sustainability in Product and Production Engineering 2024

Realizing a sustainable, scope 3 emission-free automobile production is inevitably bound to transform the automotive industry fundamentally. While “green”, climate-neutral primary materials certainly are welcomed, they clearly need to be complemented by a massive (re)use of secondary, end-of-life vehicle scrap materials, and upcoming legislation, viz. the 2023 proposal for the European ELV Directive, is likely to demand exactly that. So the challenge – and the chance!- is to think of ELV not as waste, but as a valuable source of raw materials and utilise them accordingly. Which raises a number of questions:

How can automotive OEM and their Tier-1 suppliers get hold of high-quality, rich-in-secondary-materials plastics, steels, light metals, rubber, etc.?
How can end-of-life vehicles efficiently be recycled to yield sorted, quality scrap materials – or even reusable parts?
How should material streams between OEM, Tier-1, material suppliers and recyclers be organised?
Do vehicle or car part qualities have to be compromised when using secondary materials? If yes, what would be tolerable?
How will vehicle architectures or material choices have to adapt to enable efficient recycling?
What concepts are viable for the end-of-vehicle-life recycling of automotive batteries? Or, would battery second life scenarios be preferable?

On November 26-27, 2024, for the third time, the Automotive Circle conference Sustainability in Product and Production Engineering, addresses these questions, assembling its international network of OEM, supplier and academic experts in Bad Nauheim/Germany.

In particular, the conference aims to present progress on…

Circular economy concepts and solutions for the most important automotive materials: plastics/composites, steels, light metals, rubber, glass
Efficient sorting, chemical or mechanical recycling and availability of automotive-relevant polymer/plastic scrap materials
Efficient, non-downgrading, end-of-life recycling of steels, aluminium and other relevant metals
Recycling, refurbishment, reuse concepts for automobile parts
Battery recycling concepts
Fossil-free primary automotive steels, aluminium, plastic materials: Availabilities and qualities
Smart design-for-dismantling vehicle architecture concepts

Be part of it – secure your seat now!

We are looking forward to meeting you in Bad Nauheim (Germany) / online next autumn!

Don’t miss any updates by following our hashtag: #ACSustainability

Now with AI-powered simultaneous translation into 60+ different languages!

Conference Program

Download PDF Program

Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

9.00 am	Welcome and conference introduction	Dr. Dirk Meine, Automotive Circle, DE
	Circularity by Design
9.15 am	Resilient Product Design – Circular product architectures for future-proof products and companies	Dr. Thilo Pfletschinger, Coalaxy GmbH, DE; Merlin Stölzle, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Engineering Design and Industrial Design (IKTD), DE
9.45 am	Leveraging benchmark data to design vehicles for end-of-life	Dr. Miranda Jarvis, A2MAC1 GmbH, DE
10.15 am	Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Coffee and contacts
11.00 am	Design for circularity – Impact for today and tomorrow	Elsa Davy, Sebastian Geithner, BMW Group, DE
11.30 am	Holistic material development toward automotive circular economy	Yohei Bito, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., JP
12.00 pm	Implementing circularity in the supply chain	Maximilian Rüsseler, Audi AG, DE
12.30 pm	Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Lunch break
	Supply Chain Circularity Concepts
1.45 pm	Circular economy in the automotive industry: High-quality recycled raw materials as the basis for sustainable and circular car production	Christian Blackert, Machiel Smit, TSR Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, DE
2.15 pm	Sourcing in relationship to the ELV	Dominik Händler, MOCOM Compounds GmbH & Co. KG, DE
2.45 pm	Transforming automotive sustainability through advanced sorting of metals of end-of-life vehicles	Dr. Leo Bahr, Cleansort GmbH, DE
3.15 pm	“From automotive to automotive” – an ecosystem approach for closed loop end-of-life recycling	Michael Hahne, Novelis, CH; Sebastian Smerat, thyssenkrupp Material Services, DE
3.45 pm	Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Coffee and contacts
	Steel: Recycling and/or Defossilisation?
4.30 pm	Circularity and downcycling in the steel industry	David Busstra, Tata Steel IJmuiden BV, NL
5.00 pm	CO2 reduced Steel: Key to sustainable automotive production and a circular economy	Fabian Botz, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, DE
5.30 pm	Net-Zero Automotive steel: Fact or Fiction	Prof. Hardy Mohrbacher, Niobelcon bv, BE
6.00 pm	Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Get together
7.00 pm	Network Dinner

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

8.00 am	KEYNOTE How can the circular economy lead to more climate protection? – Sufficiency as a ‘strategy of enough’	Prof. Christina Dornack, German Council on the Environment (SRU), Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy, DE
	The Battery Recycling Challenge
8.45 am	Disassembly technologies for automotive batteries – automation and concepts	Johannes Feik, FFT Produktionssysteme GmbH & Co. KG, DE
	The Plastics Recycling Challenge
9.30 am	Sustainable materials for advanced micromobility	Pierre Authom, Toyota Motor Europe, BE
10.00 am	Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Coffee and contacts
10.45 am	Car2Car – Research insights into closed loop car recycling for plastics	Bernhard Staudt, BMW Group, DE; tba, Steinert UniSort GmbH, DE; Dr. Margret Fuchs, Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF), DE
11.15 am	Advanced plastic sorting technology – a solution towards the ‘closed loop’	Mohammed Riyaz, Hyundai Motor Group, DE; Robin Just, Polysecure GmbH, DE
11.45 am	From old tires to new car parts – Chemical recycling enabling automotive circularity	Dr. Fabian Grote, Covestro Deutschland AG, DE
12.15 pm	The material science behind recycling plastics into automotive	Zshelyz Lee, Dow Mobility Science, DE
12.45 pm	Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Lunch break
	The Aluminium Carbon Footprint
2.00 pm	Future-proofing aluminium circularity: challenges and opportunities ahead	Dr. Benedetta Nucci, European Aluminium, BE
2.30 pm	Decarbonizing the aluminium value chain in a 2050 perspective	Stig Tjøtta, Hydro Aluminium Primary Metal, NO
3.00 pm	Scenario-based life cycle assessment of vehicle lightweight structures	Moritz Ostermann, Paderborn University, Automotive Lightweight Design (LiA), DE
	OEM Conclusions
3.30 pm	The conference’s OEM Advisory Board experts on current challenges in reaching sustainability in automotive product and production engineering
3.45 pm	Farewell address and end of the conference

The program is subject to change. Status as of November 18, 2024.

Participants

The conference adresses

Automotive engineers and experts at OEMs and OES worldwide who are involved in sustainability-related decision making
Representatives of relevant academic and related institutes as well as other experts for sustainable industry solutions

Participating companies

Alumobility, CH
Audi AG, DE
BASF SE, DE
BMW Group, DE
BostonDynamics Inc., US
BR-CONS GmbH, DE
Constellium, FR
Constellium UK Ltd, GB
Cosma Engineering Europe GmbH, AT
DeSde, DE
Dow Automotive Systems, DE
DuPont Specialty Electronic Materials CH GmbH, CH
EDAG Engineering GmbH, DE
EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, DE
Evonik Operations GmbH, DE
Ford-Werke GmbH, DE
Fraunhofer IWS Dresden, DE
German Aerospace Center (DLR), DE
Gestamp, ES
G-Tekt Corporation, JP
G-Tekt Deutschland GmbH, DE
Honda R&D Europe (Deutschland) GmbH, DE
Hydro Aluminum, UK
Hyundai Motor Company, KR
Hyundai Motor Europe, DE
Kirchhoff Automotive Deutschland GmbH, DE
Kobelco Europe GmbH, DE
Kobe Steel Ltd., JP
Leibniz University Hannover, DE
Magna Automotive Europe GmbH, AT
Mercedes-Benz AG, DE
Nippon Steel Corporation, JP
Nissan Technical Centre Europe, GB
Norsk Hydro, DE
Novelis, US
Novelis Switzerland SA, CH
Polysecure GmbH, DE
Renault, FR
Robert Bosch GmbH, DE
Saint-Gobain PPL Pampus GmbH, DE
Speira GmbH, DE
Tata Steel Ijmuiden B.V., NL
Tecosim GmbH, DE
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, DE
Toyota Motor Corporation, JP
Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA, BE
Volkswagen AG, DE
Volvo Cars, SE

Status as of November 20, 2024

International OEM Advisory board

The Automotive Circle and OEM Advisory Board of the Sustainability in Product and Production conference, consisting of experts from the following brands and companies:

Yohei Bito

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Simon Buckingham

Volvo Cars

Dr. Isotta Cerri

Toyota Motor Europe

Sebastian Geithner

BMW AG

Mike Herbig

Audi AG

Dr. Christoph Haberling

Audi AG

Ilya Popov

Ford Werke GmbH

Timo Unger

Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH

Exhibition & Sponsoring

Exhibitors And Sponsors On Site

Take advantage of the high coverage of the Automotive Circle and profit from the sponsoring options before and during the events. Show your competence and services, matching the conference subjects, to the numerous car body engineers of international OEM. Thus, you are strengthening your brand awareness in the automotive industry!

Come on board as an exhibitor or sponsor and benefit from this excellent platform to strongly promote your company’s capabilities as a reliable supplier!

Please find detailed exhibition and sponsoring options below:

If you have any question or want to request additional information, please contact us.

More Information

Trust rate

Participation fee

1.995 €*

*expired

Early Bird

Participation fee

2.095 €*

*for registrations received by October 26, 2024

Standard

Participation fee

2.195 €*

*for registrations received after October 26, 2024

Register Now

Digital Participation

What can you expect from the digital participation?

Follow the live stream of all presentations or on demand* until 2 weeks after the conference
Ask you individual questions during the Q&A session to the speakers during the live stream
Exhibitor forum and the possibility to get in touch with the exhibitors
Messaging and chat functions to get in touch with others
Download of the presentations

*Will be provided after the conference

Acces data to the digital platform will be send out approx. one week before the conference starts.

Technical Plattform

The virtual event of the Automotive Circle is planned and conducted using electronic tools and platforms. The follwoing tools are used:

Cvent Attendee Website (via browser, compatible with the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge)
Vimeo Player

Each participant is responsible for using these tools. If it is not possible to use them, e.g. due to technical company requirements, this does not entitle the participant to cancel the digital participation free of charge.

Prices, Terms & Conditions

Organizer

Vincentz Network GmbH & Co. KG
Plathnerstrasse 4c
30175 Hannover, Germany

T. +49 511 9910 – 378
F +49 511 9910 – 379
jeanette.timner@vincentz.net

Date & Venue

Conference: November 26-27, 2024

Digital Participation
or
On site Participation @
DOLCE by Wyndham Bad Nauheim
Elvis-Presley-Platz 1
61231 Bad Nauheim, Germany

T +49 6032 303-0
F +49 6032 303-529
info@dolcebadnauheim .com
www.dolcebadnauheim.com

Accommodation is available at the conference hotel.

We kindly ask you to make your own hotel reservation at the conference hotel. Rooms are available from € 154,- to € 174,-, depending on the room category. All rooms include breakfast for a price of € 5,- per person and day. Please refer to: “Automotive Circle”.

The following cancellation conditions apply for all categories:
All reservations can be cancelled free of charge up to 4 weeks before arrival. Up to 2 weeks before arrival 60% of the room rate will be due. From 2 weeks before arrival 80 % will be charged.

Participation Fee

On site or digital participation (choice is all yours):

Trust-Rate	1.995 €*	for registrations received by August 26, 2024
Early-bird	2.095 €*	for registrations received by October 26, 2024
Standard	2.195 €*	for registrations received after October 26, 2024

Students will get 50 % discount on standard prices on presentation of a valid student ID.
A 10% group discount on the rate that is valid at the time of registration is available. This will apply when 5 or more attendees from the same company address register at the same time.
The access data for the digital conference participation will be send out via E-Mail approx. one week prior the conference. The prerequisite for this is that all payments have been recieved in full.

* All prices plus 19 % German VAT. All conferences in Europe are subject to VAT. To reclaim, please contact your local tax office.

Participation fee includes

On site participation: Fees including full conference participation, incl. conference materials and list of delegates, the authority for downloading the presentation on the internet, luncheons, catering, the participation in the evening networking event and on-demand access to the presentation videos for 2 weeks after the conference.

Digital participation: Fees including full digital conference participation, incl. conference materials and list of delegates, the authority for downloading the presentation on the internet and on-demand access to the presentation videos for 2 weeks after the conference.

Registration

Registration is preferably done via the event’s website, alternatively by e-mail or regular mail. The confirmation of participation and invoice will be sent via e-mail. Without this confirmation, there is no claim to participation in the booked event. Registrations will be considered in the order in which they are received, except EuroCarBody. However, the number of participants is limited in all cases.

Technical Plattform for digital participation

This virtual event of the Automotive Circle is planned and conducted using electronic tools and platforms. The following tools are used:

Cvent Attendee Website (via browser, compatible with the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge)
Vimeo Player

Each participant is responsible for using these tools. If it is not possible to use them, e.g. due to internal company requirements, this does not entitle the participant to cancel the digital participation free of charge.

Conference Language

The conference is held exclusively in English. All documents are predominately composed in the English language.

Cancellations

Fees will be refunded in full if notice of cancellation is received by October 29, 2024. Please understand that event preparation and organization involve financial and human resources. Therefore a fee of 50% of the participation fee will be charged, if the notification of cancellation is received after October 29, 2024. Should notification reach us after November 12, 2024, or in case of non-participation, 100% of the participation fee will be charged. Substitutions of delegates may be made at any time.

Cancellations and changes must be made in writing and will be confirmed by the organizer. Cancellations due to health reasons can be cancelled free of charge at any time with a medical certificate. If a participant is demonstrably unable to attend due to travel restrictions, he/she has the option of converting the attendance participation into a digital participation (if this is offered). Any cost differences will be reimbursed).

The participant undertakes to follow the instructions of the organizer and the venue. Failure to do so may result in exclusion from the event.

The organizer reserves the right to change the program or to cancel the event in the event of special circumstances (important reason). In particular, the organizer is entitled to take such measures in cases of force majeure, due to official orders, in the event of a situation endangering the life, body or health of the participants. In these cases, the organizer shall not be obliged to pay damages and/or reimbursement of expenses to the participants. This applies in particular to any cancellation fees incurred by third parties (e.g. hotel bookings, train or flight tickets).

If the digital event has to be canceld by the organizer due to insufficient number of participants, technical complications or due to illness of one or more speakers, already paid participation fees will be refunded in full. Further claims do not exist.

Invitation Letters

Please contact us if you need invitation letters for visa requirements. We will be happy to assist with this after we have received your registration. There requests are usually handled by us within 2 working days and we typically send the invitation letters out as a PDF file via eMail. If you require an original letter we can send it out by regular mail. Please understand that if you need letters sent via express mail that we have to further the delivery and handling costs to you.

Program Changes

Automotive Circle reserve the right to revise event content and change implementation tools. There is no claim to a specific lecture, workshop or references. Registered trademarks: No guarantee is given that the products, processes and other names mentioned are free of third-party property rights.

Data Protection

As participant of an event, you agree that data such as company, address (zip code, city, country), first name, name and job function of the attendee will be published on the list of participants. The list of participants is available to all participants in digital form. The list of participants could also be used by sponsors and exhibitors for advertising purposes. Objection against publication and circulation of your data may be made at any time until 3 weeks prior to the event and has to be made in writing to the organizer. The address data are processed for customer service and information purposes in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Company’s name, city and country might be published on the Internet as reference for upcoming Automotive Circle events. Personal data will be forwarded to the local health authority on request.

Pictures, Videos & Recordings

By registering you understand that your participation and attendance at the event may be videotaped, filmed and/or audio recorded. You agree that the recording may be used for any lawful purposes that Vincentz Network, or its designees, in their sole discretion, may determine.

Picture credits

jarnoverdonk/stock.adobe.com; NicoElNino/stock.adobe.com; Hotel Dolce Bad Nauheim; Vincentz Network

Miscellaneous

With your binding registration you agree that film, image, word and sound recordings may be made of you during the event. These recordings may be used without restriction by Vincentz Network or authorized parties in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Also have a look at our Privacy Policy.

Hanover, December 2023