Michael Brunn

As Faerch's dedicated recycling division, Cirrec specializes in circular solutions for plastics. Its mission is to enable true circularity in food packaging by transforming post-consumer PET packaging back into new food-grade trays of the same high quality.

The competition has been running successfully for 7 years attracting outstanding and original entries from around the world.

The EEA published today its assessment of progress toward objectives set out under the 8th Environment Action Programme (EAP), which establishes the framework for EU environmental policy until 2030. Progress is assessed based on a set of 28 headline indicators and corresponding targets in areas such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, a regenerative circular economy, zero pollution and a toxic-free environment, biodiversity and ecosystems, and environmental and climate pressures related to EU production and consumption.

The Feedstock Innovation Center (FIC) will process waste plastics into feedstock. Once the facility is completed, SK Chemicals will secure a value chain that extends beyond the production of chemically recycled materials to encompass the sourcing of waste plastics.

Incorporating recycled plastic into food contact applications is necessary to meet upcoming targets and requires adherence to EU regulation, but for those outside the recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) market, or outside the EU, meeting those requirements will be a significant challenge.

The Heavy Picker uses AI-based computer vision and robotic precision to identify and sort valuable metals and minerals from bottom ash fractions that traditional systems often miss. Stone, inert, and hardcore materials pass through, while the system sorts remaining metals and unburnt fractions directly from the belt. By automating these complex tasks, the system enhances efficiency, reduces manual handling, and improves workplace safety.

In the process, the textile bales are first shredded and then pneumatically conveyed to the Hosokawa Alpine Rotoplex to be defibred. In the next step, a classifier separates the fibres into two fractions: clean fibres for recycling and contaminated textile waste that can be disposed of.

While the newly published Economic Security Doctrine and the RESourceEU Action Plan confirm the central role of recycling and secondary raw materials in securing Europe's industrial future, BIR cautions that several measures risk undermining the very resilience and competitiveness the EU seeks to protect.

The analysis forms part of a wider USD 10.1 trillion business opportunity associated with the adoption of nature-positive solutions across the private sector.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) states that the European Commission's new RESourceEU package could align mineral policy with defence objectives and weaken environmental and social safeguards.