On May 21, 2025, the DeremCo Consortium hosted an online Policy Lab aimed at aligning regulatory frameworks with circular economy goals for the reuse of composite materials. The event, organized by Veltha with support from DeremCo partners, brought together European policymakers, industry leaders, and waste management experts to identify regulatory barriers and explore actionable solutions for integrating recovered composites into new production cycles.

The session opened with welcoming remarks from Aimee Forcada (Veltha), who introduced the agenda and emphasized the critical role of cross-sector collaboration in advancing sustainable material recovery. This was followed by an overview of the DeremCo project delivered by Laura Mazzola (POLIMI), who presented the project’s ambition to establish a demand-driven, cross-sectoral model for the reuse of end-of-life composite materials as valuable secondary raw materials.

A central portion of the event addressed concrete challenges encountered by industry stakeholders and waste providers. Representatives from GREENTHESIS (Italy), Carbon Cleanup (Austria), BIRZIPLASTIK (Spain), and VEPLAS (Slovenia) shared experiences related to regulatory fragmentation, the complexity of achieving End-of-Waste status, and the lack of harmonized quality standards across member states.

These issues were further analyzed in a legal and policy session led by Gian Marco Gioffré (WindEurope Association), who examined the current state of End-of-Waste legislation and outlined possible future policy directions aimed at streamlining certification procedures and fostering consistency at the EU level.

The second part of the Policy Lab shifted toward policy coordination and regional perspectives. Anita Tregner (I3 Strategic Forum) discussed the importance of a coordinated European approach to composite waste regulation. This was followed by a roundtable discussion featuring regional representatives including Amaia Martinez (Basque Country, SPRI), Natalija Poš (Slovenian Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development), Carlos Silveira (Centro Portugal, CCDRC), and Anita Tregner, who collectively stressed the importance of regulatory harmonization, mutual recognition mechanisms, and the development of shared certification frameworks. They also called for greater policy incentives to scale up circular practices within composite value chains. The event closed with concluding remarks, summarizing key insights and outlining next steps, including the development of a Policy Brief and a follow-up engagement planned for late 2025. The Policy Lab represented a significant milestone toward regulatory alignment and a more circular and sustainable approach to composite material reuse across Europe.