ECOMONDO – DAILY NEWS – 4TH NOVEMBER

STATES GENERAL OF THE GREEN ECONOMY: THE STRATEGIC ISSUES

As of yesterday, Ecomondo 2026 has been hosting the 15^th edition of the States General of the Green Economy, organised by the Foundation for Sustainable Development under the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, the European Commission and the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. “On an international scale, significant factors are driving the green economy and the 2025 Annual Report entitled ‘Partnership for Action on Green Economy’, produced through a collaboration between five UN agencies, states that the ecological transition has become a structural necessity for the socio-economic stability of many countries and can be a concrete force towards social inclusion and economic growth,” said Edo Ronchi, President of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, in his opening address yesterday. “In Italy, the overall situation regarding the transition is critical with only a few limited positive signs, although an IPSOS survey shows that the push for green initiatives among citizens and businesses has grown.” Today’s proceedings were dedicated to the international session organised in collaboration with Italy for Climate. “In a world plagued by wars, social inequalities and geopolitical tensions,” said Raimondo Orsini, Director of the Foundation, “the green economy offers a concrete response because it reduces climate crisis risks and ensures less dependence on imported fossil fuels and raw materials, which are often the cause of these global problems.”

ESG CEO SUMMIT: TRANSFORMING SUSTAINABILITY INTO COMPETITIVENESS

How to combine sustainability and competitiveness; where to accelerate and where to simplify; which investments generate the greatest strategic value; what to stop doing, what to continue doing and what to start doing. There were the questions posed by leading companies at the third edition of the ESG CEO Summit, held yesterday at Ecomondo 2026. The meeting focused on how to turn the transition into a growth factor, the effectiveness of direct claims compared to strategic silence, the challenge of the demographic winter, the development of human capital and the need for networking. The analysis, commissioned by Ecomondo and TEHA Group (The European House-Ambrosetti), was introduced by Carlo Cici from TEHA Group and Andrea Alemanno from Ipsos and began with a speech by Corrado Peraboni, CED of IEG. The round-table discussion was attended by the CEOs of Acea Ambiente, Gabriele Di Cintio; Toyota Material Handling Italia, Maria Cristina Iacazio; Aquanexa, Andrea Lanuzza; Suez Italia, Patrizia Rutigliano; and the managing director of the Caviero Group and CEO of Caviro Extra, Valentino Tonini.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF EUROPEAN RECYCLING IS WORTH 555 BILLION EUROS

The role of the circular economy in European industrial competitiveness and the prospects for the future Circular Economy Act were the focus of the “Circular Economy Act: challenges, opportunities and implications for European packaging” conference, which took place yesterday at Ecomondo. The event featured the presentation of “A new European industrial policy for the circular economy”, a study conducted by CONAI and TEHA Group, and explored the prospects for the development of a European market for secondary raw materials with a particular focus on the balance between supply and demand, the interoperability of national systems, and the investments required to strengthen the competitiveness of European industry. The debate was attended by representatives from European institutions, including Eric Mamer from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment, and MEP Pierfrancesco Maran, alongside Massimo Milani, secretary of the Chamber of Deputies’ Environment, Territory and Public Works Committee, and Tullio Patassini, head of the secretariat to the President of the Productive Activities Committee. Speakers also included Edo Ronchi, President of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, and representatives from Verpact and EXPRA, organisations operating in the management and recycling of packaging waste. The discussion on the future Circular Economy Act continued in the afternoon with the session entitled “Closing the loop in waste management: the new challenges of the Circular Economy Act” on new waste management perspectives within the framework of evolving European legislation.

CLIMATE RESILIENCE FROM EUROPE TO LOCAL AREAS: NETWORKING FOR REGENERATION

One year on from the launch of the manifesto “Strengthening the climate resilience of maritime regions”, a meeting entitled “Adaptive regeneration of coastal areas and territory - what opportunities from the European climate resilience framework?” took place yesterday at Ecomondo 2026. The event was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), ISPRA, the Emilia-Romagna Region, GNRAC and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe. The event explored the opportunities offered by the new European framework for climate resilience and involved representatives from the European Commission, European agencies and national institutions, including the Italian Government’s special envoy for climate change and the president of the NRRP-NIPEC Technical Committee, alongside representatives from MASE, the European Investment Bank, academia and regional and local authorities. The main focus of the debate was the importance of multi-level governance and collaboration with local territories for the implementation of European strategies on climate adaptation and ecosystem restoration with particular attention to Emilia-Romagna Region’s role in launching the Water Resilience Alliance, and local initiatives.

THE DIGITAL PASSPORT FOR A MORE TRANSPARENT AND CIRCULAR TEXTILE SUPPLY CHAIN

The textile industry, a key player at Ecomondo 2026, has its own programme of events. Yesterday saw the conference entitled “ESPR and Digital Product Passport in textiles: traceability and transparency along the value chain”, which focused on the role of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in improving product traceability, textile waste collection, and the quality of secondary raw materials. The discussion centred on the information to be included in the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and how to ensure its quality, reliability and interoperability throughout the supply chain. The meeting, opened by AISEC and featuring institutional addresses from the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (MIMIT) and EURATEX, involved representatives from research, academia, industry associations and companies such as Bulgari, Calzedonia, Brandart and Saipem. The third edition of the conference entitled “Reuse, repair and eco-design. The heroes of the ‘magic’ circles of the Circular Economy in the textile sector” also took place yesterday with a focus on circular economy practices in the textile industry, from reuse to durability, reparability and eco-design.

Unmissable events scheduled for tomorrow include:

·       Sixth edition of the Africa Green Growth Forum: The Mattei Plan: dialogue between institutions and the private sector for Africa’s sustainable development, organised by Ecomondo’s Technical Scientific Committee in collaboration with the Task Force for the Implementation of the Presidential Office’s Mattei Plan, Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo and RES4Africa

·       The Lorenzo Cagnoni Awards for green innovation

·       Strategic and operational aspects of adopting the Industrial Emissions Directive 2.0: the new permitting framework between environmental and health assessments with case-law guidelines”, organised by the Ecomondo’s TSC and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security’s EIA Commission.

·       “EU-Africa Strategic Corridors to a mutually beneficial cooperation for critical raw materials”, organised by Turin University, JRC, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy.

The full programme of Ecomondo 2026 events is available on the following link: www.ecomondo.com/eventi

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS

Ecomondo 2026 is organised by Italian Exhibition Group with the collaboration of: the European Commission; UNIDO ITPO; Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI); Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy; Italian Trade Agency for the promotion and internationalisation of Italian companies abroad (ICE); Emilia-Romagna Region; Rimini Municipal Council; ANFIA (National Automotive Industry Association); ART-ER; Assoambiente; CBE JU (Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking); CIB (Italian Biogas Consortium); CIC (Italian Composter Consortium); CIHEAM (International Centre For Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies); CONAI (National Packaging Consortium); EBA (European Biogas Association); ENEA; ESWET (European Supplier of Waste-to-Energy Technologies); European Environment Agency; FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization); FEAD (European Waste Management Association); Sustainable Development Foundation; ISPRA (Environmental Protection and Research Institute); ISWA (International Solid Waste Association); Legambiente; OECD; RECYCLING EUROPE; UNACEA (National Union of Construction Equipment & Attachments Companies); UNICIRCULAR (Assoambiente section); UTILITALIA; Water Europe.

ABOUT ECOMONDO 2026

Event: International trade show; Organisation: Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A.; Frequency: annual; Edition: 29^th; Dates: 3-6 November 2026; mail: ecomondo@iegexpo.it; Website: www.ecomondo.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/EcomondoRimini; LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ecomondo-the-green-technologies-expo

PRESS CONTACT IEG/ECOMONDO 2026

head of media & corporate communication: Elisabetta Vitali; press office manager: Pier Francesco Bellini, Marco Forcellini ; international press office coordinator: Silvia Giorgi; press office coordinator: Luca Paganin; press office specialists: Nicoletta Evangelisti, Mirko Malgieri; media@iegexpo.it

This press release contains forecast elements and estimates that reflect the management´s current opinions (´forward-looking statements´), particularly regarding future management performance, realization of investments, cash flow trends and the evolution of the financial structure. For their very nature, forward-looking statements have a component of risk and uncertainty, as they depend on the occurrence of future events. The effective results may differ (even significantly) from those announced, due to numerous factors, including, only by way of example: food service market and tourist flow trends in Italy, gold and jewellery market trends, green economy market trends; the evolution of raw material prices; general macroeconomic conditions; geopolitical factors and evolutions in the legislative framework. Moreover, the information contained in this release, does not claim to be complete, and has not been verified by independent third parties. Forecasts, estimates and objectives contained herein are based on the information available to the Company as at the date of this release.