Michael Brunn

According to preliminary ICSG data, the refined copper market for April 2016 (excluding the adjustment for changes in China's bonded stocks) showed an apparent production deficit of around 110,000 metric tonnes (t) mainly due to strong Chinese apparent refined copper demand.

Japan's GOMI Recycle 110 is looking to invest in a waste recycling factory in Cambodia's Svay Rieng province. The factory would be set up to recycle plastic waste into finished products for local markets.

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was 136 million tonnes (Mt) in June 2016, the same figure as June 2015.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has said that the waste disposal rate in the state increased in 2015.

The European Commission is considering a deal for the steel sector in exchange for granting China the coveted Market Economy Status (MES). According to European Aluminium, this approach ignores the enormous Chinese overcapacities in industries like aluminium and creates unfair distortions on the EU market.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has stated that e-waste laws in Australia needs to be strengthened to better handle rising e-waste volumes in the country.

Researchers have developed a material that contains shredded rubber from used tires for use in the subballast layer of train tracks. The researchers are from Spain's Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), rail firm AZVI and the University of Seville. The material, combined with crushed stone, has already been used to good effect in asphalt mixtures and roadside embankments. However, its use in the rail sector is relatively unexplored.

Van Gansewinkel and Shanks want to form a new European waste collection and recycling alliance. To this end, both companies have signed a preliminary agreement.

Sources have said that Dutch buyout group Waterland Private Equity Investments B.V. has initiated talks to sell the nation's waste management group Attero for about €1 billion. Attero processes 40% of Dutch household waste and describes itself as a leading player in creating energy from waste.

Mary Ann Yule, president of HP Canada, has said that Canada will need to embrace circular economy if it wants to maintain its position as the leader in recycling.