The European Union's high-stakes climate battle is approaching a decisive moment. The European Commission is preparing to review its 2035 zero-CO2 emissions mandate for new cars, an exercise that was expected to be little more than routine. Instead, Germany's open opposition to a full ban on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles has turned the process into one of the most politically sensitive fights in Europe's auto industry.
United Microelectronics (UMC) has opened an NT$1.8 billion (approx. US$58 million) circular economy center at its Tainan campus, launching an in-house facility that will convert semiconductor waste into reusable industrial materials as part of the company's long-term sustainability plan.
China's industrial overcapacity and a prolonged real estate slump continue to weigh on cement demand across both sides of the Taiwan Strait, prompting Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) to accelerate its overseas expansion. The company is leaning on high-margin, low-carbon cement operations in Turkey and Portugal, along with its fast-growing European energy-storage business, as its next major growth engines. TCC said its Europe-Africa cement operations and new-energy ventures have become its third and fourth pillars, and it is targeting Europe's coming wave of urban renewal and a EUR10 billion (approx. US$11.5 billion) electricity-market opportunity.
