Michael Brunn

Stadler's strategic objectives for 2023 remain focused on anticipating the changing needs, developing solutions to address new requirements as they arise, consistently delivering added value for its customers.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has released a Review on the EU actions to address the increasing amount of hazardous waste. 

Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) has set four essential criteria for mapping zero waste fashion business models, urging decision-maker s and the fashion industry to look beyond product circularity and ecodesign.

Santa Barbara County's Resource Center efficiently sorts both MSW and single stream using the same circuit with Tomra Autosort units to successfully reduce landfilling

The fifth "Forum Plastic Recyclates" event to be held on March 29 and 30, 2023 focuses again on the field of mechanical recycling with topics such as the "recycling market and recycling standards", "improved quality thanks to additives" and "applications for recycled plastics".

The building sector plays an important role in climate and resource protection. In Ger-many, he faces special challenges. On the one hand, the high demand for housing must be met, and on the other hand, far-reaching renovation measures are necessary to achieve the climate targets. By 2030, total emissions must be roughly halved. According to the WWF, the circular economy is a central lever for this. The background paper "Circular Economy in the Building Sector" presents the current status. In addition, circular econo-my measures to improve the situation will be presented.

Despite long-standing appeals, the consumption of resources continues to increase in many areas - beyond a reasonable measure. With the paper "Transformation by design, not by disaster! - Civil Society Appeal to Reduce Primary Resource Consumption", a broad civil society alliance, which includes BUND, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Forum En-vironment and Development, DUH, Greenpeace and Zero Waste Germany, makes sug-gestions on what a better use of resources could look like.

Significant quantities of raw materials are needed for the planned energy transition in the EU and the infrastructure required for it. With the study "Critical raw materials for the energy transition in the EU: How circular economy approaches can increase supply secu-rity for critical raw materials", Systemiq aims to show the importance of the circular economy for this transition. Above all, it is important to emphasise the increased resili-ence that is becoming increasingly important in the face of the current geopolitical crises.

What good is the best recycling if there are no buyers for the material? The question of creating markets for secondary raw materials is therefore discussed again and again. This is also the case in the study "Examination of concrete measures to increase demand for plastic recyclates and plastic products containing recyclates", which was carried out by the Oeko-Institut and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency.

Disposable or reusable - which variant is the more ecologically sensible? Two studies commissioned by FEFCO last year concluded that single-use is better. Scientists from Fraunhofer IBP and Fraunhofer Umsicht try to refute this on behalf of "Die Stiftung Initi-ative Mehrweg" in their report "Two Packaging Systems in Competition: Reusable Plastic Crates vs. Single-Use Cardboard Boxes".