Circular Industry Forum & Tech4Regen Ceremony
On Thursday, November 26, 2026, the Circular Industry Forum will bring together industrial companies, startups, researchers, and innovation leaders at the Rolex Forum at EPFL in Lausanne to discuss the challenges of the circular economy. Organized as part of the Tech4Regen program, this third edition will explore how technological innovation, eco-design, and the transformation of supply chains can help strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of Swiss industry in the face of resource scarcity, climate challenges, and evolving regulatory requirements.
The Circular Economy and Technological Innovation as Drivers of Industrial Competitiveness
How can the principles of the circular economy be transformed into viable industrial solutions that create value? The Circular Industry Forum will explore the technologies, methods, and business models that support this transition, with a focus on practical applications and collaborations between companies, startups, and research institutions.
Structured around two major themes—product eco-design and circularity in supply chains—the program will combine lectures, industry case studies, roundtable discussions, and presentations of innovative solutions.
Among the highlights announced, you'll find presentations such as:
- Rethinking Products and Services Through Eco-Design with Nadine Wolf, Lead Innovation & Circular Business Design at Milani Design & Consulting, who will explore how to integrate the principles of the circular economy from the design stage to generate environmental and economic value.
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to Inform Design Decisions with Jonathan Ouziel, Senior Sustainability Consultant at eqlosion, focusing on how to use LCA to guide design choices and better assess environmental impacts.
- Transforming Supply Chains to Promote Circularity — a segment dedicated to concrete collaborations between startups, industrial companies, and consulting firms, to illustrate the conditions for implementing circular solutions.
The event will also serve as an opportunity to present the results and outlook for the third edition of the Tech4Regen program, featuring a presentation by Bertrand Klaiber, program manager at EPFL Innovation Park, who will take this opportunity to announce the 2027 call for applications.
An exhibition of technological solutions, followed by a networking reception starting at 5:00 p.m., will provide an opportunity to discover innovations developed by startups and companies active in the circular economy.
For SMEs in French-speaking Switzerland, this event will provide an opportunity to identify emerging technologies, circular business models, and new avenues for collaboration to support their industrial transition. Beyond environmental goals, these discussions will address challenges directly linked to their competitiveness: resource optimization, evolving design processes, adaptation of value chains, material recovery, and innovation processes to foster the resilience of SMEs in western Switzerland. This is an opportunity to meet with technology and scientific partners, discover solutions applicable to industrial activities, and explore the conditions for integrating these solutions into viable business models.
