The importance of sustainability
As we launch into 2026, the issue of sustainability looks set to remain high on agendas, and in the design engineering space there's going to be even greater focus on issues such as the ability to recycle fasteners and the environmental friendliness of adhesives. This is also the year when the EU's Right To Repair Directive comes into full effect, with one of its aims being to reduce waste by encouraging fixing over replacing – that will directly impact how products are assembled to ensure ease of disassembly, and again fastening and joining technologies will be in the spotlight. It's certainly going to be an interesting year.
With best regards
Mark Simms, Editor
editor@machinebuilding.net