Session 4: Break out 6: The Chemical Industry in Transition

Session 4: Break out Groups to develop recommendations: 

Break-out Group 6: The Chemical Industry in Transition: Zero Pollution Between Regulation and Reality

Zero Pollution is one of the key elements of the long-term vision for the European chemicals sector and consecutive value chains. While this vision might be broadly shared, perspectives on what “Zero Pollution” means in practice can differ across stakeholder groups and long-term operational criteria are missing. 

This exchange is intended to provide a constructive and open space to explore these perspectives, foster mutual understanding, and identify common ground.

Speaker

Prof. Dr. Lilian Busse has been Vice President of the German Environment Agency (UBA) since 2021. She had been Head of Division “Environmental Health and Protection of Ecosystems” at UBA from 2015 to 2021. Prior to that, Lilian Busse worked for 10 years at the California Environmental Protection Agency doing research and policy advising and was also a scientist and Lead of Water Programmes for the State of California. From 2002 to 2006, Lilian Busse has worked as Scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California San Diego. She represents UBA on several scientific advisory boards, committees and boards. Since 2023, Lilian Busse has been an honorary professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Ulrike Kallee is head of the „Chemicals and Circular Economy“ Department at Friends of Earth Germany (BUND e.V.). She studied Marine Science in Oldenburg and New Zealand. With more than 20 years of experience spanning chemical policy, research, and industry engagement, Ms. Kallee brings deep expertise in environmental health and chemicals management. Throughout her career, she has contributed to numerous studies investigating contamination by hazardous substances in the environment, consumer products, and the human body. She has advised international companies on the substitution of substances of concern, with a particular focus on the textile sector. At BUND, she was instrumental in developing BUND’s ToxFox app, which provides consumers with real-time access to information about products and their ingredients, helping to drive greater transparency, informed choices and substitution. In recent years, an increasing focus of her work has been the resource consumption of the chemical industry and the need for more resource-sufficient production and consumption.

Veronica Manfredi, Director Unit C, Zero Pollution, Water Resilience and Green Urban Transition, European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment (DG Env).