Have you ever wondered what a plastic bottle dreams of? Where it was born, the journeys it’s taken, and the hopes it still carries? In a world where materials are often discarded without a second thought, this event invites us to look at them differently, not as waste, but as witnesses to our systems, choices, and futures.

As the world prepares for the next round of Plastic Treaty negotiations in Geneva this August, the call to rethink our relationship with materials is more urgent than ever. Packaging, especially for food, plays a key role. Its design, composition, and afterlife all shape the planet’s future.

Beyond Recycling explores how we can give value back to materials through science, design, and storytelling.

Prof. Dr. Selçuk Yildirim, Deputy Head of the Institute of Food and Beverage Innovation and Professor at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), and Dr. Shunichi Honda, Programme Officer at UNEP, will give presentations, followed by a workshop in which participants will interact directly with packaging materials, exchange ideas with experts, and co-create small acts of re-seeing that might shift our whole approach to the planet.