On 17–18 June, we attended one of Europe’s largest recycling and circular economy events – E-Waste World Expo 2026 in Frankfurt. Over two intensive days, we had the opportunity to meet partners and clients, learn about the latest market trends, and hear expert insights into the changes already shaping the future of Europe’s recycling sector.

One idea clearly dominated this year’s event: recycling is becoming not just an environmental measure, but a strategic element of Europe’s raw material supply chain.

Europe Could Recover More Than Half of the Raw Materials It Imports Today

One of the most memorable insights of the conference came from the EU-funded FutuRaM project. According to its findings, by 2050 Europe could recover 4.1–5.7 million tonnes of secondary raw materials per year, and under an ambitious circular economy scenario, these materials could replace up to 56% of the primary raw materials currently imported.

This figure clearly shows why the recycling sector is increasingly seen not as a link in waste management, but as a key part of Europe’s economic security.

Critical Raw Materials Become the New Priority

Many presentations emphasised that the future value of recycling will be determined less by overall recycling volumes and more by the ability to recover critical raw materials.

Among the materials mentioned most often were lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, gallium, germanium, indium, tantalum, and rare earth elements. These raw materials are essential for electric vehicles, batteries, electronics, semiconductors, and renewable energy technologies.

Urban Mining – Europe’s Largest Untapped Mine

Another topic that came up on practically every conference stage was the concept of Urban Mining.

According to experts, a large share of the raw materials Europe needs is already stored in unused products and electronic waste. As one example, data presented showed that German households alone still hold around 167 million unused phones and mobile devices.

This shows that one of the key challenges ahead will be not only recycling technology, but also more effective collection of waste and its return to official recycling systems.

What We Took Away from Frankfurt

The event’s main message was clear to us: recycling is becoming a strategic part of Europe’s economy. Recovering critical raw materials, more effective collection, and the use of secondary raw materials will be among the most important market trends in the coming years.

We follow these trends not just to talk about them. It matters to us to understand how they are changing customer needs, partner expectations, and recycling processes themselves, so we can apply this knowledge in our everyday work.