Giving a second life to waste materials, reducing waste before it is even produced and transforming cities into greener places, capable of tackling the effects of the climate crisis. These are some of the challenges that the winning projects of the 2026 Sustainable Development Award respond to, which this year too brings to the fore the most innovative experiences of the Italian green economy.
The Municipality of San Lazzaro di Savena (Bologna), Iride Acque and Forestami stood out in the 16th edition, with three very different projects, but united by the ability to transform sustainability into concrete and potentially replicable interventions.
The awards were awarded on 4 November in Rimini, as part of the international Ecomondo event, in the three categories dedicated to the circular economy, circularity in urban areas and resilience and adaptation to climate change.
The award, now in its 16th edition, is established by the Foundation for Sustainable Development and by Ecomondo – Italian Exhibition Group, with the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. The Award valorises businesses, startups, local administrations, multi-utilities and investee companies that stand out for their environmental innovation, the effectiveness of the results obtained, the economic benefits and the possibility of replicating the solutions adopted.
Three categories are the protagonists of this edition: circular economy, circularity in urban areas and resilience and adaptation to climate change.
The Award aims to promote projects in progress or completed interventions that ensure good environmental results, have an innovative content, also generate economic benefits and have good diffusion possibilities” explained Edo Ronchi, president of the Foundation for Sustainable Development. “This year too we had a large and quality participation, with a particularly high level of innovative projects”.
San Lazzaro di Savena: a municipality that aims to prevent waste
The Municipality of San Lazzaro di Savena, in the province of Bologna, won first prize for the “ESSENTIAL – Sustainable choices that last over time” project, a strategy that applies the principles of the circular economy and the Zero Waste philosophy to the daily life of the city. The objective is not only to improve separate waste collection, but to intervene before waste is produced.
The project develops through five main areas: promotion of reuse, shared consumption models, reduction of packaging at source, economic incentives for ecological choices and valorisation of domestic green waste.
The peculiarity of the initiative lies in the role assumed by the municipal administration, which is no longer limited to managing collection and disposal, but becomes a promoter of new sustainable behaviors, through public services, incentives and spaces available to citizens. A model that aims to make circularity a daily practice, rather than an isolated intervention.
Iride Acque: from exhausted batteries a technology to purify industrial waste
The first prize in the category dedicated to businesses was won by Iride Acque SB SpA, thanks to EMER (Enhanced Magnetic Heterogeneous Reactor), an innovative plant for the treatment and purification of industrial waste water.
The technology uses an iron-based catalyst, also obtained through the recycling of materials from exhausted batteries, combined with an oxidation process assisted by a magnetic bar. The application results are particularly interesting.
In the textile sector, EMER, integrated with other technologies, has made it possible to recover approximately 80% of the sodium chloride used in dyeing processes. In the agri-food sector, however, it has allowed the reuse of the water used in washing.
The system also has low energy consumption and significantly reduces the quantity of residual sludge to be disposed of. The modular structure and the possibility of integrating it into existing systems, together with the reduced installation costs, make this technology potentially accessible even to small and medium-sized businesses. An example of a circular economy in which waste materials can help purify other waste, reducing the consumption of resources.
Forestry: three million trees for a greener and more resilient Milan
Forestami was also awarded at Ecomondo, the project born in 2018 from research by the Polytechnic of Milan and now supported by a large public and private partnership. The objective is to increase the natural heritage of the Metropolitan City of Milan through new urban forests, green infrastructures and ecological corridors.
The goal set for 2030 is ambitious: planting and growing three million trees, one for each inhabitant of the Metropolitan City, increasing tree cover from 16% to 21%. Forestami – which also stood out for being the only European project awarded at COP17 on biodiversity – operates in the 133 municipalities of the metropolitan area and intervenes in urban, peri-urban, agricultural and natural areas. The activities include the creation of new forests, the recovery of degraded areas, the strengthening of ecological connections, the introduction of agroforestry systems and the depaving of urban surfaces. It is therefore not just a matter of planting trees, but of rethinking city spaces to make them more capable of dealing with the effects of the climate crisis, from high temperatures to intense rainfall. The project integrates scientific research, urban planning, public participation and environmental monitoring, also using territorial analysis tools to identify the areas in which interventions can produce greater benefits.
The other projects awarded at Ecomondo 2026
In addition to the three overall winners, nine other projects were awarded joint prizes for each category.
Circularity in urban areas
– ASA Azienda Servizi Ambientali SpA, Municipality of Livorno, Confindustria Toscana Centro e Costa – Delegation of Livorno
– Asia Benevento SpA
– Municipality of Bergamo
– Municipality of Schio
– Lab00 ETS Foundation – SpesaSospesa.org® Project
– REMIDA – The Creative Recycling Center of Reggio Emilia
– Emilia-Romagna Region
– Santeria SpA Benefit Company
– VITALI SpA SB
Circular economy – Business section
– Bioforcetech – OurCarbon
– Circular Materials
– CORERTEX – Textile Reuse and Recycling Consortium
– Crocco SpA SB
– IRIS Strategies for the Environment – NEMO Nature
– Iterchimica SpA
– L’Oréal Italia
– Mercatino Srl
– REVET SpA
Resilience and adaptation to climate change
– Municipality of Ancona
– Municipality of Latina – Department XIV Public Works
– City of Turin
– Lombardy Foundation for the Environment – Lombardy Region
– INWIT SpA
– Latitude 40
– Perlage – Nardi family since 1985
– Italian Railway Network – Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group
– Sorgenia
For the “Startup – Circular Economy” section, created in collaboration with CONAI and with the support of STEP – Innovation Hub, the awards ceremony will be held on 10 December 2026 in Milan, during the National Conference of the Recycling Industry, with the media partnership of Pianeta 2030 of Corriere della Sera.
