When production stops, losses start adding up fast. New study shows just how costly unplanned downtime has become for manufacturers.

When critical equipment fails, the consequences can ripple across entire operations. That’s why, for Tomáš Hladík—Vice Chairman of the EFNMS European Training Committee—maintenance is not just a technical chore. It is a strategic part of doing business.

A laser-based hyperspectral scanner developed by Finnish scientists gives mining companies a faster and more precise way to identify mineral compositions, enabling the early-stage separation of valuable minerals directly at the point of extraction.

At this year’s Ecomondo fair, two radically different approaches offered glimpses into how data, automation, and artificial intelligence are transforming waste handling. While one focuses on infrastructure-level digitalization, the other targets granular sorting precision. Both point toward the same goal: cutting inefficiencies, reducing environmental impact, and lowering operational risk in waste management.

In wastewater treatment, meaningful innovation is often buried under concrete involving costly retrofits, structural overhauls, or new builds. But a quietly growing Italian company is proving that smarter systems don’t have to be heavier ones. In fact, they may just float.