Are regulations becoming a spectator sport in the US? Pick a side, cheer, repeat.
The White House says Trump will move to cancel the 2009 “endangerment finding“ - the Obama-era ruling that classified CO₂ as a threat to human health. That decision is the legal foundation for all federal greenhouse-gas regulations.
We predicted that 2026 would bring unprecedented regulatory disruptions, we didn’t expect that to happen as early as February. For those who wish to stay close to this story, we will track this story in our MatterRadar portal.
In Europe, the PFAS debate is also heating up. This week, a new study, “The Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their role as enablers in the competitiveness of European industry,“ argues that:
PFAS (especially fluoropolymers and F-gases) are still essential in aerospace, defence, semiconductors, and green energy. In many high-performance, extreme conditions, alternatives remain technically unfeasible.
A full PFAS ban could mean major disruption: €562.8B in first-year costs, €72.8B in recurring annual losses, ~39,000 enterprise closures (90% SMEs), and 2.9M employees impacted.
Without sufficient exemptions, EU-wide restrictions could drive relocation to weaker-regulation regions (e.g., China or Canada) and slow the European Green Deal by stalling lithium-ion batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and heat pumps.
But the human cost of inaction is just as real.
One of the largest civil lawsuits against PFAS has just been filed in France, in the ‘Vallée de la Chimie’ south of Lyon: 192 residents have filed a civil claim against Arkema France and Daikin Chemical France in the Lyon judicial court, seeking more than €36M in damages for harm they say has been caused by long-term PFAS contamination.
If PFAS touches your packaging roadmap, we pulled together a practical checklist on the PFAS Food Packaging Ban.
This week, we also go deeper into plastics and microplastics - and two rules that will shape product decisions more than most teams expect.
EU Microplastic Ban: The EU is restricting intentionally added microplastics into a wide range of products, to cut microplastic releases at the source.
UN Global Plastic Treaty: After administrative reset meetings in early 2026, the big thing to watch this year is whether production caps stay on the table or get negotiated out.
This week, finally - we made it: Tocco.ai Agents is officially live. What is it really? Basically, these are your AI employees. We have 1 Agent to send you all of the regulatory risks, and another Agent to scout the suppliers when you sip your coffee. If this is for you, hit the button - tell us your use case, and we will give away 100 free spots for Tocco.ai Founding Circle users.
Further Readings⋅ Material Intelligence & More ⋅ 02.2026
(Cellulose 🪵) - Microbial Cellulose VS Bacteria Cellulose: What’s the Difference?
First, “insider” secret: Microbial Cellulose (MC) and Bacterial Cellulose (BC) are actually the same thing. But wait, there is more fun science.
(Europe 🇪🇺🌲🪓) - EUDR: Explained in Five Minutes
the EU is responsible for about 10% to 16% of global tropical deforestation through the products it imports. Here’s the correction.
(Germany 🇩🇪 🪙) - Mining startup Hades raises €15m as demand for critical minerals heats up
The raise reflecting Europe’s reliance on other countries for imports of critical minerals and energy.
(Europe 🇪🇺 ♻︎) - The EU Circular Economy Act - Explained like I’m Five
EU wants to double circularity rate to 24% by 2030, creating a single market for secondary raw materials. Here’s what it means for industry.
(Tunisie/Europe 🇹🇳 🇪🇺) – Why Sub-1 mm Salmon Leather Outperforms
The work of Maher Sellami, founder of Quark Leather with salmon leather: light, strong, and reliable.
(UK 🇬🇧) - 5 Digital Shift: How Textiles Are Scanned and Sourced
Explores how VFX pipelines, volumetric capture and AI are applied in textiles and what it means for designers.