From 3 to 5 November, Bilbao Exhibition Centre hosted the first edition of DS – Decarbonized & Sustainable Industry, drawing 2,210 professionals from 16 countries. Across three days, one thing became clear: the sector is united in its drive to turn decarbonization and industrial sustainability into levers of competitiveness, innovation and economic development.

Trade visitors to DS Industry 2026 came from across Spain and abroad. They were senior decision-makers, and between them they represented more than twenty industrial sectors: refining, pulp and paper, foundry, rail, aeronautics, capital goods, chemicals and petrochemicals, energy (both generation and distribution), cement and lime, iron and steel, automotive, glass, ceramics, food and beverage, textiles, plastics, construction, shipbuilding, agri-food and waste treatment. Technology and research centres, environmental management and infrastructure companies, engineering firms and EPC contractors also sent representatives, as did specialist consultancies.

Across its different spaces, DS Industry 2026 tackled the main challenges and opportunities that come with shifting to more sustainable, decarbonized production models. We brought attending professionals the knowledge, technology solutions and hands-on experience they need to speed up the transformation of the industrial base.

In the Knowledge area, the spotlight fell on the factors that matter most for industrial transformation. Technologies such as CO₂ capture and utilization, thermal energy storage, heat pumps and green hydrogen shared the stage with circular economy strategies and the trends driving decarbonization in refining, renewable fuels, iron and steel, cement, food and ceramics. Round tables, panel debates and Expert Talks completed the programme, joined by Innovation Workshops and Startup Talks where attendees heard about hands-on experience, real implementation cases and solutions that companies and start-ups have developed to meet the challenges industry faces today.

With more than 100 exhibitors, the Innovation area served as DS Industry’s technology showcase, putting solutions and developments with direct industrial application in front of visitors. Here, sector leaders and benchmark companies stood alongside start-ups that are driving new answers to the challenges of industrial transformation. Across its 36 panels, the Poster Zone showcased innovative projects, new technologies and solutions developed by companies in the sector.

Contacts and fresh opportunities for collaboration took shape in the Networking area, designed to bring together professionals, companies and organisations working in decarbonization and industrial sustainability. Standing out among its initiatives was the international B2B meetings programme, run by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) through SPRI. It set up 190 pre-scheduled meetings between exhibitors, visitors and organisations active in decarbonization and energy efficiency, from Spain as well as from countries such as Germany, Slovenia, France, Belgium, Italy, Turkey and Pakistan.

Alongside it ran the Hosted Buyers Programme, which strengthened the event’s business potential by bringing in buyers and other profiles with decision-making power, while a range of networking activities helped forge new professional contacts.

Talent attraction and development also took a prominent place through WORKinn for DS Industry. The initiative is set up to connect companies, professionals and students, create real job opportunities and support generational renewal, tightening the link between what industry needs and the new skills its transformation demands.

As a finale to the programme at BEC on 3 and 4 November, today, the 5th, was given over to technical visits to benchmark facilities such as Zabalgarbi, Biscay Eco Aggregates, PepsiCo, Petronor and the Port of Bilbao. On site, participants saw for themselves leading projects and initiatives in decarbonization and industrial sustainability.

Our sights are already set on the second edition, which will take place at Bilbao Exhibition Centre in November 2028.

 

DS Awards 2026

At a ceremony held yesterday at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, DS Industry presented its DS Awards, recognising some of the standout initiatives in decarbonisation, circularity and industrial sustainability. The awards singled out real cases of technology deployment with a proven impact in industrial settings.

The Start-up strand recognises emerging companies developing innovative solutions to accelerate decarbonisation, energy efficiency and the shift to more sustainable industrial models. URAPHEX took the award in the “Circular Industry and Cleantech” category, while NAWATIA won in “Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency”.

Within the Circularity in Industry Track, which rewards initiatives that make more efficient use of resources, recover value from waste and open up new ways of generating sustainable value, ARTECHE won in the category “Circular products, processes and businesses: eco-design, product life extension and product-as-a-service”, and OTUA was recognised in “Waste Recovery”.

In the Technologies Track, centred on solutions capable of accelerating the decarbonisation of industrial activity, awards went to Heidelberg Materials for its initiative in “CO₂ capture and utilisation in industry”; BAYER in “Thermal storage applications in industry”; UNIPER in “Heat pump applications in industrial processes”; and ARCELORMITTAL in “Green hydrogen applications in industry”.

DS Industry 2026 was organised by Bilbao Exhibition Centre with the support of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Basque Government as Institutional Partners; Iberdrola and Petronor as Platinum Sponsors; KPMG as Gold Sponsor; and Aclima, Basque Environment Cluster, Basquenergy Cluster, EVE-Basque Energy Agency, IHOBE, Net Zero Basque, SPRI Group and Tecnalia as Sector Partners.