Recycled and bio-based projects face the commercial test

EcoReFibre trials produced HDF and MDF panels with 25% recycled fibres and reached 9% production savings, but five projects presented at Ecomondo 2026 in Rimini still face the commercial test.

ISWA’s Abhimanyu Chakravorty, who coordinates or supports several featured projects, set the market filter. “Environmental credentials are not enough,” he said. Buyers ask whether a material works, what it costs and whether supply can keep pace; the projects also depend on European technical skills.

What must Wood2Wood prove at industrial scale?

Wood2Wood targets construction, demolition and furniture wood through sorting, upcycling and digital tools. The 25-partner Horizon Europe project is coordinated by Greece’s ICCS. Levery, which moves construction innovations from research to market, was represented by founder Alessandro Pracucci.

Pracucci said panel makers need alternatives to a vulnerable virgin-timber supply, while EU policy seeks to avoid virgin materials. Starting now could put the products on the market in five years, he said.

The team designed a honeycomb panel from recovered wood, tested it for façades and examined acoustic insulation. Coatings and UV resistance remain market hurdles. Its next step is industrial scaling, ideally with a façade manufacturer; Pracucci said the product is close but not yet market-ready.

Can waste streams become saleable products?

The Horizon Europe project ICARUS has 18 beneficiaries and converts lithium aluminosilicate residue, steel slag and cellulose recovered from nappies and wastewater sludge into materials intended to match virgin quality. Giuseppe Landolfo of i-Foria Italia also presented a Wood2Wood case in which contaminated wood became syngas for partner Procter & Gamble.

Landolfo said technical conversion was only half the task: “We are not here to prove that we can turn waste into a secondary raw material ... We have to prove that we can turn it into a viable product that we can sell.” He said Europe has the policy tools but must convert more innovation into actual business.

What can fibreboard recycling recover?

FederlegnoArredo’s Omar Degoli said growing MDF use will raise wood-waste volumes, including outside Europe, as recyclability questions intensify. EcoReFibre sorts material and recovers fibres for thin boards, an all-recycled building block, HDF and MDF panels containing 25% reclaimed or post-consumer fibres, and reclaimed-fibre insulation.

Trials achieved 9% production savings. EcoReFibre aims to replace up to one quarter of virgin fibres in Europe’s fibreboard market. Degoli said recovery is possible with steady feedstock, while all but one project pilot had been tested at industrial scale.

How will bio-based products reach building sites?

BIOS MATER, led by CIRCE and co-funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, has 22 partners developing four products for a demonstration park: sandwich panels; thermoplastic wall panels and floor tiles; bio-resin composite cladding; and plantable foam tiles for drywall.

Levery’s Matteo Giovanardi said the teams match material properties with construction requirements from the start. Scouting and benchmarking identify applicable rules, targeted production design reduces early-stage risk, and iterative stakeholder engagement tests technical viability and market potential.

What skills gap blocks scale?

BIOWISE, an Erasmus+ project, supports the shift to bio-based materials across wood, textiles and furniture. In its first year, the project framed training for different areas of the bioeconomy, backed by a digital learning hub. Centrocot’s Omar Maschi said the fast-evolving industry still has education gaps. He also said bio-based content must be verified, requiring people who know the regulations.

Why do pilot costs miss market prices?

Pracucci said developers must show that a recycled panel matches a virgin product on the terms its users understand. Mechanical strength gives Wood2Wood a clearer customer explanation, and designs must return for revision when something fails. Procter & Gamble applies its own standard, so recovered material must compete with virgin feedstock. Maschi said verified bio-based content requires regulatory expertise.

Commercial economics vary by market. Landolfo said premium applications make performance the key performance indicator and leave room to work on price. Degoli said pilots conceal line-speed costs: if a vacuum fails to grab panels quickly enough, an industrial line slows and becomes more expensive.

Maschi said larger batches increase pressure on feedstock availability and consistency. Pracucci noted that scale also requires capital, although existing equipment can often be used.

Bio-based panels remain niche, Pracucci said, but 25 years ago they were expensive and depended on tax incentives; they no longer do. Giovanardi and Maschi identified insufficient materials knowledge and limited willingness to adapt processes as further constraints.

Which rules decide market access?

Landolfo called Europe the strictest regulatory region, with Japan and India watching developments and the United States the least regulated, where waste is not treated as a problem. He warned that too much new European regulation could disadvantage local producers and called for international harmonization.

Landolfo sought clarity rather than fewer rules and compared the regulatory system to sport: companies can work within the rules when everyone understands them.

Pracucci said farmers and food processors need certainty over the legal status of by-products, their fate at the end of a process and how to sell them without unnecessary intermediaries. He noted 18 years of changing waste definitions, adding that material dangerous for one use may suit another and innovation will test regulatory limits.

What is the next market milestone?

Chakravorty closed by calling for materials designed for their use and ready for the market, plus circular transition managers to bridge research and production. The record in Rimini contains demonstrators, industrial-scale EcoReFibre pilots and planned BIOS MATER testing, rather than demonstrated operating commercial capacity.

Until then, the projects have shown technical routes rather than routine commercial sales. The deciding milestone is customer adoption at industrial volumes, supported by clear rules for collected material and enough feedstock to hold performance and price.