Marius Schaub

Concrete is considered harmful to the climate. A start-up from Berlin wants to change that: Biogenic residues are used as carbon-storing aggregates in concrete - to turn the building material into a carbon sink, but also to specifically improve the properties of the concrete.

Tomra Recycling has published its latest eBook titled "AI in Recycling: Unlocking New Possibilities". The digital guide focuses on the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly deep learning, in transforming recycling processes and advancing material circularity.

Vanden Recycling has launched a campaign to provide free polymer analysis reports during October. The initiative, available to businesses in the UK, Europe, Turkey, India and Australia, is intended to help stakeholders better understand the composition, contamination levels and processing potential of their plastic materials.

Researchers at Iowa State University have compiled a new resource that brings together regulated and restricted substances relevant to food packaging. The work, supported by the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS), analyzed international and domestic chemical lists with a focus on food contact materials (FCMs). These include multilayer plastic and paper packaging, can coatings, utensils and other items widely used in the food sector.

Polypropylene (PP), one of the most widely used plastics in packaging, remains one of the most difficult materials to recycle into food-contact applications. A European initiative, Nextloopp, has announced progress in tackling this challenge by developing processes that transform kerbside post-consumer PP waste into food-grade compliant resin.

Austrian technology provider MAS has introduced its Iqonic Twin Hyper PET, a new platform designed for PET recycling. According to the company, the system combines a conical twin-screw extruder with an infrared-based solid-state polymerisation (SSP) step that operates without nitrogen. This approach is said to deliver stable viscosity levels, consistent colour quality, and reduced acetaldehyde content, while lowering overall energy demand.

BASF, Porsche and technology partner BEST have successfully completed a pilot project that demonstrates how complex waste streams from end-of-life vehicles can be kept in circulation. The project focused on automotive shredder residues, which are often considered difficult to recycle and are usually incinerated, and explored how they could be turned into valuable raw materials for plastics.

The OLIWA project (Repurposing Olive Waste in circular economy solutions) has officially started with the goal of turning olive by-products into valuable co-products. Coordinated by the University of Torino, the initiative brings together 25 partners from six Mediterranean countries, including Spain, Greece, and Italy.

Roma Grus, a construction materials supplier on the island of Gotland, has partnered with CDE to open a new 140tph waste recycling plant. The facility processes construction, demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste and converts it into high-quality recycled aggregates and sand for use in new building projects.

Ineos Styrolution has received the first commercial-scale delivery of recycled styrene monomer (SM) at its Antwerp site. The material was supplied by Indaver from its newly inaugurated depolymerisation plant, the first facility in Europe dedicated to polystyrene recycling.