More than 80 stakeholders from industry, academia and the public sector came together to exchange practical experiences and advance collaborative circular economy initiatives for the life sciences sector.

On 22 June 2026, Go Circular in Life Science (GCiLS), together with the FHNW School of Life Sciences and with the support of BaselCircular, welcomed more than 80 participants to its Annual Event at the FHNW Campus Muttenz. The event brought together representatives from pharmaceutical companies, MedTech, healthcare organisations, academia, startups and the public sector, reflecting GCiLS' role as a neutral platform connecting stakeholders to co-develop and implement practical circular economy solutions for the life sciences sector.

Under the motto "From strategy to implementation", the programme highlighted how circular economy principles are increasingly being translated into concrete action. Participants gained insights into the results of the GCiLS ecosystem analysis, current regulatory developments and implementation examples from Roche, Elio, ten23 health and Haag-Streit. Interactive breakout sessions further explored opportunities for collaboration in areas such as industrial symbiosis for waste solvents, sustainable lab consumables and circular procurement, plastic waste, and reuse and repair.

The event demonstrated that many circular economy challenges in the life sciences sector—such as solvent recovery, sustainable procurement and plastics—can only be addressed through collaboration across organisations and value chains. The discussions also highlighted a strong interest in practical business cases, knowledge exchange and pre-competitive collaboration. Building on this momentum, GCiLS will continue to advance several collaborative initiatives, including the launch of the feasibility study "Industrial Symbiosis for Waste Solvents in Northwestern Switzerland", new thematic working groups and future ecosystem events.

GCiLS would like to thank all speakers, moderators and participants for their valuable contributions and looks forward to continuing the collaboration with its growing community.

Organisers & partners

Organised by Go Circular in Life Science (GCiLS) and the School of Life Sciences FHNW, supported by BaselCircular.