Ecomondo 2026 will take place from 3 to 6 November at the Rimini Expo Centre in Italy. The 29th edition of the event will focus on the circular economy, resource management, environmental technologies and industrial sustainability.

Finnish foundry sand reclamation specialist Resand has increased its equipment financing facility with Norion Bank from €14.5 million to €25 million, supporting new customer agreements and international expansion.

Technical issues with DIWASS are causing operational disruptions because market participants are unable to submit notification requests for exports to Turkey and other third countries. The European Waste Management Association (FEAD) has now issued a statement referencing feedback from the European Commission.

The foundational technical standards for the digital product passport (DPP) are in place. At the international conference DPP4EU 2026 (June 1-3, Brussels), experts are presenting the newly published European standards to a broad industry audience and discussing concrete steps toward implementation.

Of this, 35 million tons, or 92 percent, was used as building materials and fertilizers, as well as in other applications. This prevented the extraction of 40 million tons of natural rock and the emission of 11,4 million tons of CO2 across Europe. Between 2000 and 2024, this will amount to a total of 1.21 billion tons of natural rock and 319 million tons of CO2.

Europe's material footprint has been growing rapidly. In 2022, an average EU resident purchased over 32 kg of electrical and electronic equipment and 19 kg of textiles, and generated nearly 5 tonnes of waste.

The Strategy confirms the Commission's vision: replacing fossil-based materials with sustainable biobased solutions, scaling industrial deployment across value chains, and creating predictable demand conditions for innovative materials, including bioplastics. It also embeds biobased plastics within a coherent PPWR architecture, by committing to adopt, in 2027, criteria and targets for biobased plastics— a milestone that can provide much-needed regulatory clarity and long-term investment certainty. We also applaud the approach taken in the strategy to support biobased plastics in complementary with recycled content targets and coherently across sectors and applications.