On 12 November 2025, over 100 stakeholders from industry, standardization bodies, research organizations and EU institutions gathered for the RISERS Plenary on Industrial Symbiosis (IS). Co-organized by CEN and CENELEC with RISERS partners at the EIT House in Brussels, it marked an important step toward developing a European Standardization Roadmap for Industrial Symbiosis.
Speakers included Andreea Gulacsi, Director Policy & External Affairs at CEN and CENELEC, Prof. Sebastian Engell (TU Dortmund, A.SPIRE APG Chair), who outlined Europe’s IS potential, and Valeria Botta (ECOS), who addressed the link between IS and EU circular economy ambitions. Working Group leads also reported on progress across 10 thematic areas.
The Plenary built on the second round of Working Group meetings, which identified barriers such as regulatory divergences, missing data and interoperability standards, unclear classification practices and limited cross-sector coordination. Participants also highlighted emerging good practices across Member States.
The consortium presented progress toward the Industrial Symbiosis Standardization Roadmap, focusing on horizontal and sector-specific needs and on the role of harmonized standards in supporting investment, permitting, and circular material flows. EU files such as the Waste Framework Directive, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), the Critical Raw Materials Act, and Digital Product Passport developments were discussed in this context.
A follow-up survey, Unlocking IS Potential in the EU: Challenges and Policy Pathways, will collect further stakeholder input. The first draft of the roadmap will be published in January 2026.
Presentations from the event are available on the RISERS website.
