Recently, Digital Product Passports (DPPs) have emerged as key instruments for promoting the circular economy and product sustainability by addressing transparency and resource inefficiency. Product information is diverse and complex. Despite many sector-specific solutions, a clearly defined pathway is absent. This paper aims to provide an innovative, universal, tree-structure foundational data model (DM) potentially applicable to any product type, filling the current gap in standardization, along with a methodology for expanding the DM to accommodate any product that will be required to adopt a DPP in the future. The proposed data model is flexible and interoperable, adaptable to any regulation, to facilitate the adoption of DPPs. Moreover, its hierarchical structure, based on lifecycle phases, maximizes data utility, offering Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data ready for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) implementation.

The packaging sector is undergoing a significant transformation driven by increasing environmental challenges and new European regulatory frameworks. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), following the European Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan, introduces five strategic priorities: waste prevention, recyclability, recycled content, compostable materials, and reusable systems. This framework aims to systematically review the current state of academic research in relation to these five intervention areas, assessing the extent to which the scientific literature supports the regulation’s circular economy objectives. The PPWR sets guidelines for key aspects such as packaging treatment, recycling targets, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and material optimization. These aspects are strongly linked to market dynamics, driving innovation and new developments in packaging design. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the industry’s evolution, with a focus on the crucial role of the circular economy in addressing the persistent issue of packaging waste. By conducting a systematic literature review using the PRISMA method, the research explores the relationship between the regulation’s structural design and the European Commission’s priority areas. The results reveal that waste prevention and reusability are the most researched areas, particularly concerning environmental assessments and regulatory tools like EPR. Additionally, while recyclability has been studied from technical and environmental perspectives, there is still a lack of research on how it connects with supply chain and material market trends. Strengthening these connections could significantly enhance recycling efficiency and improve the sustainability of packaging systems. Furthermore, financial incentives and policy strategies could play a key role in facilitating the transition to a circular economy. Addressing these gaps will foster a more integrated understanding of sustainable packaging solutions.

A sustainable battery ecosystem is essential for the European Union's transition to clean energy, a goal underscored by the Green Deal's commitment to climate neutrality by 2050. Lithium-ion batteries, crucial for electric vehicles and energy storage, are at the heart of this shift. Yet, the rapid growth in demand and dependence on imported critical raw materials, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, expose Europe to significant geopolitical and environmental vulnerabilities. Recent regulations, particularly the Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, set rigorous standards to address these vulnerabilities through improved lifecycle management and recycling practices. This paper examines the challenges in securing stable raw material supplies, minimizing environmental impacts, and scaling up recycling capacities. Demand forecasting models, statistical production projections based on Compound Annual Growth Rates, and supply risk assessments using Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and Fragile States Index have been applied to estimate future material availability. These are integrated with scenario-based simulations to assess potential gaps under optimistic, baseline, and pessimistic conditions. Additionally, simplified Life Cycle Assessment and a regulatory gap analysis were conducted to evaluate environmental impacts and the adequacy of current compliance tools. The results indicate that, despite regulatory efforts and projected recycling growth, Europe is unlikely to achieve full raw material autonomy by 2030. Structural dependencies on high-risk countries persist, and recycling alone will not close critical supply gaps. The paper concludes by proposing a layered strategic framework supported by tools such as the Digital Battery Passport, eco-design guidelines, and scenario-based KPIs to guide resilient and regulation-aligned policy actions.

Battery demand is rising rapidly, with a market growth of over 30% annually. EV batteries, projected to make up 90% of the market by 2030, require attention. However, as the market grows, the environmental impacts associated with this expansion also increase significantly. Therefore, a comprehensive approach that includes Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is deemed necessary. The BatPaC tool is widely utilized in both scientific and industrial contexts for designing and configuring EV batteries through minimal input requirements. This paper seeks to integrate BatPaC with an LCA tool by leveraging the input data and calculations related to various masses and processes considered in BatPaC. This integration aims to provide a more holistic view of the environmental impacts alongside performance and cost assessments. By implementing this approach, stakeholders will be able to enhance eco-design strategies, aligning with the growing regulatory and consumer pressures for greener technologies.

The recovery of end-of-life ship components and materials requires a complete demolition process as well as the realization processes of reuse that can guarantee the circularity of raw materials from the perspective of economic and environmental sustainability. Since the introduction of the Ship Recycling Regulation, the European Union legislative framework has moved toward opening green markets related to the dismantling of ships. The objective is to value the critical materials and to change the design techniques in shipbuilding aiming at the total recyclability of ships. The rationale of the research is to develop a systemic model of the market for the circularity of materials from the recovery of medium-large ships. The objective of the study focuses on the potential valorization of the members and the materials of the ships in light of the tightening European legislation. The results take interesting considerations, especially for what concerns recognize opportunities for green business and markets in the field of ship recycling.

Batteries are becoming increasingly important due to their many applications in sectors such as energy, transport, and electronic devices, making them a key component for the green industrial revolution. Supranational bodies as the European Commission also recognize their importance. Batteries have critical issues throughout their life cycle that hinder a true ecological transition, including the use of critical raw materials, high carbon footprint inmanufacturing processes, and difficulties in recycling and disassembly at end-of-life. To address these issues, eco-design is the only model capable of reducing or eliminating the problems at the root, improving the impacts of the upstream phases and the effectiveness of the downstream ones. The purpose of this study is to provide a dedicated theoretical framework for eco-design based on existing methodologies, which can be adapted to any scenario and considers all actors of the selected and involved value chain. This framework attempts to eliminate the issues and uncertainties of previous studies and enable the achievement of a truly optimized, feasible, and sustainable design.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global personal protective equipment (PPE) volume demand increased by 300–400

This paper conducts a detailed exploration of projected trends in the demolition and recycling of the European ship fleet, in light of the dismantling capacity in Europe. Utilizing a robust predictive model based on the Weibull distribution, the study synthesizes historical data and current operational metrics to forecast trends up to the year 2050, such as ship typologies, their average age, and recycling frequency. By estimating the rate and volume of ships reaching their end-of-life (EOL), the study aims to delineate the required capacity for ship recycling in Europe over the coming decades. The analysis reveals the key factors influencing the demolition trajectory and provide essential insights for future planning and policy formulation in the field of ship recycling. The study also underscore the importance of developing adaptive strategies in ship dismantling catering to the anticipated shifts in fleet composition and evolving environmental regulations, offering a foundation for informed decision-making and policy development in the maritime industry.

The increasing significance of batteries in the 21st century and the challenges posed by the anticipated surge in end-of-life batteries, particularly within the European context, are examined in this study. Forecasts predict a notable escalation in battery waste, necessitating a focus on the recycling of black mass (BM)—a complex and hazardous byproduct of the battery recycling process. Employing systematic analysis, this research investigates the hazardous nature of BM derived from various battery types. The study underscores the urgent need for definitive legislative classification of BM’s hazardous properties (HPs), in accordance with European regulations. This comprehensive examination of BM’s HPs contributes significantly to the understanding of BM recycling complexities, proving essential for industry stakeholders and guiding future developments in this field. Additionally, the study explores innovative technologies and strategies that could improve recycling efficiency and reduce associated risks. A pivotal finding of this investigation is the inherently hazardous nature of BM, leading to the recommendation that BM should be classified at a minimum under the “HP3—Flammable” category. This discovery underscores the critical need for stringent management protocols and robust regulatory frameworks to address the burgeoning challenge of battery waste in Europe.

The green energy revolution has propelled the use of batteries, necessitating holistic lifecycle monitoring and data sharing among stakeholders involved in the supply chain and in the whole lifecycle. The European Union mandates digital passports through the Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. Recognizing the challenges in today's landscape – from fragmented software to limited collaboration and the array of battery types – this paper unveils a standardized battery passport data model aimed at overcoming the challenges posed. It organizes techno-environmental data into a tree structure, ensuring compliance with European regulations and offering a Life Cycle Inventory-ready structure for the purpose of supporting Life Cycle Assessment studies. The future implementation on a centralized platform has the potential to drive eco-friendly battery infrastructure growth.

The packaging industry is a critical key point of the global economy, estimated to be worth around $1 trillion dollars. It is made of different sectors that work together to create a dynamic value chain, connecting companies, manufacturers, finance, and environmental aspects that influence each other. Overall, from the upstream to downstream of the processes, the packaging industry is a significant indicator of the economies’ development, production, and consumption trends. It is expected to grow by 4% annually from 2021 to 2026, mainly due to the increased use of materials such as cardboard. But the underrated aspect during the industrialization period has become a priority. The addressing of the environmental issues is driving a growing shift toward environmentally friendly packaging materials due to increasing regulatory pressure today. It is essential to adopt a circular approach in developing new products that considers both the economic and eco-design aspects of the evolving packaging industry. New industrial trends strongly complement the environment with the transition of the industry. The purpose of this chapter is to address the dynamics of the packaging industry in light of the environmental transition and the industrial circular economy approach.

Ship recycling refers to the process of dismantling ships to extract and recover materials and it is typically seen as the best method to dispose of a ship when its service life is coming to an end. Exploring the European Union's aspiration to enhance competitiveness and boost ship recycling near its shipyards, this study delves into the European ship recycling market's environmental, economic, and regulatory facets. It focuses on factors influencing recycling activities in the EU, set against global market trends and stringent regulations. Employing a multiple linear regression model, the study analyzes variables like shipyard capacity, Light Displacement Tonnage (LDT) price, ship age, shipbuilding rates, maritime trade volumes, and material circularity, drawing data from 2016 to 2022 from various open-source databases. The research uncovers correlations between shipyard capacity and demolition rates, and the impact of LDT prices on demolitions. The study also notes the interplay between shipbuilding activities and demolition rates. This paper contributes crucial insights to the European ship recycling market, aiding sustainable development in a changing operational environment.

Batteries are fundamental to the sustainable energy transition, playing a key role in both powering devices and storing renewable energy. They are also essential in the shift towards greener automotive solutions. However, battery life cycles face significant environmental challenges, including the harmful impacts of extraction and refining processes and inefficiencies in recycling. Both researchers and policymakers are striving to improve battery technologies through a combination of bottom–up innovations and top–down regulations. This study aims to bridge the gap between scientific advancements and policy frameworks by conducting a Systematic Literature Review of 177 papers. The review identifies innovative solutions to mitigate challenges across the battery life cycle, from production to disposal. A key outcome of this work is the creation of the life cycle management framework, designed to align scientific developments with regulatory strategies, providing an integrated approach to address life cycle challenges. This framework offers a comprehensive tool to guide stakeholders in fostering a sustainable battery ecosystem, contributing to the objectives set by the European Commission’s battery regulation.

Identification of the intrinsic properties regulating complex systems' development contributes to a refined comprehension of their inherent transformations over time. Seen as a local context undergoing non-linear changes as a response to socioeconomic dynamics, landscape evolution over time provides a paradigmatic issue when examining the key property of 'rapidity-of-change' characteristic of any complex system. The present study introduces an exploratory approach grounded on mathematical morphology to investigate 'rapidity-of-change' of a landscape system evolving in response to external stimuli over 70 years (1948–2018). This framework was applied to a real case (metropolitan Athens, Greece) assessing structural changes in built-up settlements reflected in seven landscape types derived from mathematical morphology. A Multi-way Factor Analysis (MFA) quantified the evolution of landscape types from diachronic land-use maps. A standardized metric of 'rapidity-of-change' was calculated from MFA outcomes over six sub-periods and confronted with the background socioeconomic context. Taken as an intrinsic attribute of complex systems, 'rapidity-of-change' in Athens' landscape was largely heterogeneous over time, being more intense during the last economic expansion (2000–2006) under the impulse of the Olympic Games. Intermediate values of 'rapidity-of-change' were associated with population growth and intense social transformations. The lowest level of 'rapidity-of-change' was finally recorded in correspondence with 2007 recession. Reflecting the intrinsic pressure of socioeconomic growth in contemporary cities, 'rapidity-of-change' in landscape systems demonstrated to be a honest proxy of metropolitan cycles, economic downtowns, and socio-demographic dynamics. Delineating long-term transformations in the 'form-function' relationship allows evaluation of (direct or indirect) planning impacts on metropolitan development.

The problem of food waste at the post-consumption phase, as well as its rational management, is one of the central matters of the transition process undertaken by the European Union, and it is one of the priorities in the Action Plan for a Circular Economy. In particular, the waste of fish products occurs throughout its supply chain. A wide literature is provided in analyzing waste on the first part of the fishing supply chain while high importance is also given to its consumption phase, especially regarding dynamics, causes and social behaviors. The paper aims at investigating mechanisms and causes of wastage that occurs in the last part of the supply chain, at a local level in Italy, by focusing the analysis at the final stage of fish consumption, produced by Italian households. Among the causes, the change in consumption habits and attitudes is also influenced by the restrictions of the healthy regulations adopted for the pandemic. Specifically, a survey was conducted to investigate what actions, habits and behaviors contribute to producing fish food waste. Causes of waste have been discussed by framing them under two dimensions of final consumption, home consumption and out-of-home consumption. Findings carried out from the research suggest knowledge of channels of distribution and integrative elements to manage the leftover food as well as the intensity of fish consumption are basilar to understand the wastage mechanism in a circular perspective. This study is an assessment of whether factors identified as causes, may increase, or decrease the waste. The importance of realizing explorative studies at the consumption phase under the approach of considering fish waste, not only as a fraction into the food waste but even a distinct part as a whole, is also given by the need to create specific strategies for sustainable production and consumption. A reflection is conducted as to how this study can be the basis for future studies on other food products related to the challenge of the rational management of food waste studies in a circular perspective.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global personal protective equipment (PPE) volume production and demand increased by 300-400% between 2019 and 2021. In this scenario, the present study aims to propose and validate an innovative circular economy scenario for end of life (EoL) PPEs, reusing them to produce reinforced bituminous mixtures. Despite that several studies confirmed the possibility of reusing plastic in the asphalt mixtures, none of them investigated the potential of PPEs, highlighting the innovativeness in the scientific panorama. Five different alternatives of EoL PPE mixtures (different products, materials, dosages, etc.) were tested at laboratory scale to verify the technical feasibility of the proposed scenario. The most promising solution resulted to be the mix of gloves and face masks composed by polypropylene, polyethylene, nitrile and lattice at a dosage of 0,5% weight/weight that allowed to produce bituminous mixtures with acceptable performances in terms of relevant mechanical parameters while recycling waste PPEs. This leads to environmental benefits, since more than 3kg of EoL PPEs per square meter of road pavement can be reused instead of disposed (about 1,5 million tons/year considering the bituminous mixtures produced at European level), as well as economic benefits for public administrations and the collectivity, due to the reduced landfilling of solid wastes.