Borealis has completed a reusable cup pilot at K 2025, the trade fair for plastics and rubber, held at Germany-based trade centre Messe Düsseldorf.
The system was designed to address single-use waste and provide a model for circular practices at large gatherings.
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The initiative provided 50,000 cups made from foamable polypropylene, which incorporated chemically recycled material produced through OMV’s ReOil technology.
The project featured collaboration with various partners in the value chain, including Bockatech, MCC Global IML, Faerch and ARBURG.
Throughout the event, attendees were served hot and cold beverages in these reusable cups across all restaurants, bars and food trucks on site.
Additional distribution points included the Borealis and Borouge stand’s coffee corner, as well as the MCC Global IML stand.
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By GlobalDataAfter use, they were collected in approximately 50 bins stationed throughout the venue, then cleaned and reintroduced for use throughout the event.
By the close of K 2025, most of the cups had been cycled through use, collection and cleaning.
Of the roughly 20,000 cups processed after the event, more than 4,000 were provided to local scout groups and smaller social initiatives in Düsseldorf. Nearly 15,000 cups were later donated to Diakonie Düsseldorf.
Distribution of these donations was managed with assistance from the marketing agency FORTESNICKEL.
Any remaining or damaged cups are being mechanically recycled at mtm plastics in Germany, part of the Borealis Group, to create new plastic feedstock.
Scout groups received their allocation of cups in November. The final batch of donations to Diakonie Düsseldorf took place at the end of December 2025.
Borealis application development and consumer products’ technical service manager Philip Knapen said: “We’re proud to have led this initiative in partnership with Messe Düsseldorf and our partners across the value chain.
“Together, we’ve shown that it’s possible to implement circular systems even in large, complex settings-and that collaboration is the key to making them work.”
Recently, Borealis committed €49m ($57.3m) to expand polypropylene production capacity at its Burghausen site in Germany.
