INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION

Their core work

ISWA is a Vienna-based international association representing the global waste management and resource recovery industry. In H2020 projects, they contribute sector-wide expertise on waste streams, recycling infrastructure, and circular economy policy — acting as the bridge between technical recycling research and industry-wide adoption. Their involvement spans e-waste, bulky product reuse, plastics recycling, and coated material recovery, consistently bringing the waste management sector's perspective to research consortia. They also engage in citizen science and environmental governance around pollution issues.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ISWA's early H2020 work (2015–2017) centred on broad circular economy themes — e-waste recovery, remanufacturing of bulky products like furniture and car parts, and modular design for recycling. From 2018 onward, their focus sharpened toward technically specific recycling challenges: solvent-based recycling of composites, debonding-on-demand for coated materials, and multilayer packaging recovery. A notable outlier was D-NOSES (2018), which moved into citizen science and environmental governance around odour pollution, suggesting an interest in public engagement beyond pure waste processing.

ISWA is moving from broad circular economy advocacy toward technically demanding recycling of hard-to-process materials (coated textiles, multilayer plastics, composites), positioning them as a knowledge partner for next-generation recycling infrastructure.

How they like to work

ISWA participates exclusively as a partner — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for an industry association whose value lies in sector expertise and dissemination rather than research leadership. With 101 unique partners across 22 countries, they operate as a network connector, bringing waste industry reach to technically-driven consortia. Their role likely involves industry validation, dissemination to the waste management community, and ensuring research outputs align with real-world waste processing needs.

ISWA has collaborated with 101 unique partners across 22 countries in just 5 projects, reflecting the large consortia typical of circular economy Innovation Actions. Their network spans most of Europe, consistent with their role as an international industry association.

What sets them apart

As the leading international association for solid waste management, ISWA brings something most research partners cannot: direct access to the global waste industry's operators, policymakers, and infrastructure owners. For consortium builders, this means built-in dissemination to thousands of waste management professionals worldwide. Their involvement signals that a project's recycling or circular economy outputs have a credible pathway to industry adoption.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MultiCycle
  Tackled one of recycling's hardest problems — multilayer and composite plastics — using advanced solvent-based processes with real-time monitoring (PAT).
• ECOBULK
  Addressed circular design across three challenging product categories (furniture, automotive parts, buildings), combining remanufacturing with user engagement.
• D-NOSES
  An unexpected pivot from waste management into citizen science and environmental governance around odour pollution, showing range beyond core recycling expertise.