NCMT, Bellona and NILU are pleased to invite you to the multi-stakeholder forum: Finding Solutions for Chemicals in Plastics, to be held in Oslo on October 1, 2026, from 11.30 - 17.30. The meeting will take place at the venue Salt, located next to the Opera of Oslo, and the entrance is free due to sponsorship from The Norwegian Research Council and The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund. 

Driven by the Global Plastics Treaty, evolving European chemical regulations, and recent research publications, the event aims to bring together key players from industry with policy makers and researchers in chemistry and materials science across Europe.

All three groups mentioned above, will be present both at the stage and in the audience, giving participants the opportunity to increase both their knowledge and their network.

Our goal is to foster dialogue, highlight ongoing industrial development, and identify critical research needs — all within the context of our current global situation and economy.

Emphasizing knowledge exchange over traditional one-way presentations, the forums format encourages interactive discussions between speakers and participants.

 

The program:

11:30-12:30	Registration and lunch
12:30-13:45	Opening session - industry and chemical handling and compliance
12:30	Introduction to the event	The hosts: Bellona, NILU & NCMT
12:40	Plastic Europe's perspectives on chemicals and plastics	Hans Ketelslegers, Director of Safe and Sustainable Plastics, Plastics Europe
13:00	Europe's largest producer of chlorvinyls' on how they develop their business and operations to handle chemicals safely and comply with regulations at the same time as operating in a tough intenational market	Ineos Invoyn
13:20	A recycler’s perspective on chemicals in plastics	European recyler of plastics TBA
13:40-14:00	Break
14:00-15:20	Deep dives Plastics and chemicals - researchers
14:00	Unpacking the PlastChem Database and its Real-World Impact	Raoul Wolf, NGI
14:15	The Industry Reality Check: Safe Plastics and the Data Dispute	Thor Kamfjord, Norner
14:30	The Global Distribution Challenge: When Local Regulations Aren't Enough	Cathrine Brecke Gundersen, NIVA
14:45	Prioritizing Health-Driven Regulations	Amrit Kaur Sakhi, FHI
15:00	Panel discussions with researchers	Led by Christian Borch
15:20-15:40	Break
15:40-16:30	Chemicals, plastics and policymaking: How do we both get going and doing it right from the start?
15:40	A Norwegian take on chemicals and plastics in the light of The Global Plastics Treaty and the development of European legislation	Norwegian policymaker TBA
16:00	The need to be cynical, practical and realistic: simplifying and regulating in the right places	International NGO, TBA
16.20	A legal perspective on regulation for sustainability	TBA
16:40-17:00	Break
17:00	Synthesis & closing talk: Seeing chemicals in plastics in a bigger sustainability perspective	NCMT, NILU, Bellona m.fl.
17:30-18:30	Drinks and networking

 

More about the researchers:

Science should drive policy and industrial innovation, but what happens when different perspectives don't align, and research becomes disputed? In this session, leading researchers step out of the lab to tackle the hard facts about chemicals in plastics, challenge prevailing narratives, and outline the regulations that will actually make a difference.

• Unpacking the PlastChem Database and its Real-World Impact
  Raoul Wolf (NGI) will present the core findings of the PlastChem database and report. Beyond the raw data, he will focus on what this database actually contributes to "the real world," providing actionable insights into how these findings are shaping the current European regulatory landscape.
• The Industry Reality Check: Safe Plastics and the Data Dispute
  Thor Kamfjord (Norner) will provide a strong counter-perspective, advocating that plastics can indeed be manufactured safely without leaching hazardous chemicals. Working directly alongside the industry to develop low-emission materials. Drawing on Norner's work directly alongside the industry to develop low-emission materials, he will explain why Norner’s own research demonstrates that the PlastChem report does not paint an accurate picture of current industrial capabilities and material safety.
• The Global Distribution Challenge: When Local Regulations Aren't Enough
  Cathrine Brecke Gundersen (NIVA) will put the regional debate into a broader, complicating global context. She will explain how the physical distribution of materials makes chemical control significantly harder. Even as European industries transition to highly regulated, safe plastics, non-compliant materials from regions with weaker controls continue to spread globally—both through human trade and ocean currents—impacting local environments and complicating compliance efforts.
• Prioritizing Health-Driven Regulations
  Amrit Kaur Sakhi (FHI) will ground the discussion in public health. Based on extensive mapping and surveys from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, she will outline exactly which chemical regulations policymakers must prioritize to achieve real-world protection, rather than just blanket bans.