On World Environment Day (June 5), we foregrounded a key message from the RECAP Cluster’s EU Green Week official partner event workshop:

“Technology to close the loop exists but the missing piece is a real Single Market for secondary raw materials that makes using it worthwhile for business”

Several online meetings later, the cluster of five Horizon Europe projects met in Brussels on June 3 to demonstrate the application of AI, Digital Twins and Robotics to promote sustainable manufacturing practices across sectors.

Opening with the policy landscape, our keynote Antonio Ferrández García set the scene – from the Critical Raw Materials Act to the Clean Industrial Deal — underlining that Horizon Europe projects have a vital role in building the evidence base for what comes next, including the forthcoming Circular Economy Act (CEA) and Advanced Materials Act, both expected by end of 2026.

Here are the key legislations that were highlighted during the keynote:

➡️Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)
➡️Ecodesign Regulation
➡️Clean Industrial Deal
➡️Competitiveness Compass
➡️Forthcoming Circular Economy Act (Q4 2026)
➡️Advanced Materials Act (Q4 2026)

The knowledge-sharing session that followed showed just how much is already being done —AI, Robotics and Digital Twins being applied across sectors to make circular processes real.

All projects summarised the same point: the gap is no longer innovation. It’s market adoption, fragmented standards, and procurement frameworks still built for a linear world.

Circular solutions are working against the grain of the existing system. This needs to change.

The Circular Economy Act is a real opportunity to fix it.

Thanks to all the projects involved in the RECAP Cluster | ICARUS | BIO4EEB | iBot4CRMs | Wood2Wood Project | CompSTLar for bringing their solutions to the table and supporting an engaging conversation in Brussels.