From June 24 to 28, 2026, the island of Kos hosted KOS 2026, the 13th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management. Organized by the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a core partner in the CRONUS consortium, this event brought together approximately 1,000 scientists, policymakers, and industry experts from across Europe, Africa, and Asia. For SEMIDE and its partners, this year's conference carried a profound weight because it served as the final official consortium meeting for the CRONUS project (Project number 101084405), marking the culmination of years of collaborative research into biogenic Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies.
The opening day brought together local waste management authorities focused on turning waste streams into circular products. During the morning, our Project coordinator Dimitris Malamis gave a technical presentation on how CRONUS solutions contribute to developing sustainable, negative-emission biofuels for European decarbonization.
During an afternoon session from 15:00 to 16:45 dedicated entirely to the CRONUS project Final Meeting, Dr. Najla Kamergi presented the exploitation roadmap for Functional Prototypes 1 through 5 (FP1-FP5). The presentation detailed market structuring, precise value propositions, and the realistic CAPEX and OPEX breakdowns needed to secure investor confidence. She also outlined the commercial pathway required to scale CRONUS technologies from Technology Readiness Level 5 (TRL5) up to full market deployment at TRL9.
In addition to sharing project milestones, the SEMIDE team actively participated in several technical and strategic sessions. This included attending sessions on nature-based solutions (NbS), hydrogen infrastructure, and waste-to-energy frameworks, such as Friday morning's Waste-to-Energy, Hydrogen and Energy from Waste session, to connect CRONUS strategies with broader environmental trends. The team also joined a dedicated, which combined the EIC Accelerator and the LIFE 2026 Info Day to provide essential guidance on securing blended finance and scaling breakthrough innovations.
The conference also offered valuable insights from the European Research Executive Agency (REA) regarding circular and bio-economy funding priorities during the LIFE Info Day. As the curtains close on KOS 2026, following a series of cultural and technical site visits on June 27 and 28, the event stands as a fitting final milestone for the CRONUS consortium. It provided an international stage to validate the project's commercial models and a moment to celebrate the shared triumphs of an exceptional European partnership. While the official project timeline wraps up, the business models and technologies refined this week have laid a permanent foundation for a carbon-negative future.
