A major cross-sectoral partnership is planning to channel €1.4 billion in private sector research spending to resource and energy efficiency in Europe's process industries – those sectors, such as steel and cement, that transform bulk resources into products that underpin modern economies.

A Croatian project, part funded by the European Union's Competitiveness and Innovation Programme Eco-innovation initiative, is aiming to demonstrate that recycled vehicle tyres can be turned into an environmentally-useful product: sound reduction barriers that are installed alongside roads and railways.

Setting up systems so that consumers can return obsolete products to retailers – whether or not at the time of purchase of a new product – is an effective way of diverting old products from waste streams and encouraging reuse and recycling.