EU Green Week partner event

Policy and Industry Strategies for Sustainable Growth

This workshop, organised as part of EU Green Week 2025, explores how synthetic zeolites contribute to circular economy practices by reducing industrial waste and enhancing resource efficiency. Based on insights from the Z-ONA4LIFE Blueprint, the event will focus on policy recommendations, industrial applications, and strategies to achieve the end-of-waste condition and to facilitate the adoption of waste-based zeolites in Europe.

The main objectives of the workshop are:

• Discuss the role of secondary raw materials in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, Clean Industrial Deal, and related policies.
• Improvement of the knowledge of the legal implications of the end-of-waste status.
• Engage industry stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers in a discussion on best practices and regulatory needs.
• Identify pathways to increase cooperation between research and industry to boost innovation in sustainable materials.
• Present key findings from the Z-ONA4LIFE Blueprint on policy and market gaps hindering waste-based zeolite adoption.

The event is open to policymakers, industry professionals, sustainability experts, researchers, and all stakeholders interested in circular economy strategies and sustainable resource management.

Agenda (all times in CEST)

09:30 - 09:35 - Welcome

• Introduction to the EU Green Week and focus on the Circular Economy - (Teresa Miñambres, Plant Director at Alusigma S.A)

09:35 - 09:50 - Presentation of the Z-ONA4LIFE project and its relevance for the Circular Economy objectives  (Aurora López Delgado, Research Scientist at IETcc-CSIC & Z-ONA4LIFE project coordinator)

09:50 - 11:20 - Circular Economy: the key role of end-of-waste status

• 09:50 - 10:20 End-of-waste certification processes under the current regulatory framework (Raul Sánchez García, Scheme Technical Manager at EQA)
• 10:20 - 10:50 End of waste status of aluminium scrap. Regulation 333/2011 (Alicia García Franco, President at the Federacíon Española de la Recuperación y el Reciclaje, FER)
• 10:50 - 11:20 Importance of technology transfer to industry and public aid programs as an engine for increasing business competitiveness (Pedro Martínez, Director of Technology Transfer at Paudire Innova S.L)

11:20 - 11:50 - Coffee Break  (Javier de Loya)

11:50 - 12:10 - Natural and Synthetic Zeolites: Unlocking Sustainable Value in a Circular Economy (Cosimo Masini, CEO at Zeocel Italia)

12:10 - 12:30 - Presentation of the Z-ONA4LIFE Blueprint (Rita Giuffrida, Project Manager at Trust-IT)

• Key findings from the blueprint: industrial applications, policy challenges, and recommendations
• Aligning zeolite production with EU policies (Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan, Waste Framework Directive, etc.)

12:30 - 13:30 - Roundtable: The challenge of the circular economy: transforming waste into the future.

• Moderator: Teresa Miñambres (Plant Director at Alusigma S.A)
• Speakers: Cristina Martínez Sánchez (Vice-Director at Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica of the UPV-CSIC), Angel Fernández Homar (President of the Fundación Economía Circular), Alejandro Navazas (General Director Environment and Sustainability at the Municipality of Gijón), Jesús Alvarez García (Manager at G+2)

13:30 - 15:30 Closing of the day and Cocktail (Javier de Loya)

The participation in the event is free of charge.

Watch the recording