Michael Brunn

With European demand for critical raw materials growing alongside geopolitical tensions and supply risks, a major analysis offers fundamental new data on the rapidly expanding size and value of Europe's "urban mine" of electronic waste.

The new DynaShape technology responds to changes in feed material shape and bulk density by automatically adjusting the machine to get the best possible results from the polymer. During exhaustive test runs that simulated different stages of production, including changes in the input material, Pure Loop clocked an increase in productivity of up to ten percent.

The proposal introduces several measures, including limiting tariff-free import volumes to 18.3 million tonnes a year (a 47% reduction compared to 2024), doubling the level of out-of-quota duty to 50%, and introducing a Melt and Pour traceability requirement to prevent circumvention. Once reviewed and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, this regulation would replace the EU's current safeguard on steel, which expires in June 2026.

Researchers checked supermarkets in 13 European countries to assess the availability and price of products carrying the EU Ecolabel and three equivalent national and regional labels. These certifications guarantee products with lower environmental and health impacts through their whole life cycle - from design and manufacturing to use, recycling and disposal.

Despite a modest stabilisation in production volumes in 2024 (+0.4% to 54.6 Mt) after a record contraction in 2023 (-7.6%), Europe's global market share has continued to erode — collapsing from 22% in 2006 to just 12% in 2024. Industry revenues have also fallen sharply, from €457 bn in 2022 to €398 bn in 2024 (-13%).

Starting in early 2026, sorting centres and downstream waste traders involved in preparing waste for plastic recycling processes will have the opportunity to apply for this certification.

In response to this challenge, the H₂ODOR project was created, an initiative led by Aimplas, which pursues a twofold solution: reducing these types of odors and, at the same time, promoting the use of recycled materials in the automotive sector.

BASF has developed a chemical recycling process that sets new standards in the recycling of technical plastics and demonstrated the capabilities in a pilot project. This process makes it possible to recycle even heavily used and contaminated plastic parts - in this case also ZF Group used oil pans from end-of-life vehicles - efficiently and sustainably at the end of their life cycle. At the core of the process is depolymerization, where the long polyamide chains are broken down at their inherent cleavage points into their original building blocks - the monomers. In the subsequent step, the monomer caprolactam obtained from the depolymerization of PA6 is purified.

A comprehensive new report published today by BB-REG-NET reveals that inconsistent definitions of "plastic" across UK regulations are creating uncertainty for bio-based and biodegradable material manufacturers and potentially hindering innovation in sustainable alternatives.

For PreZero the Sollenau project is a strategic investment aimed at strengthening Austria's regional recycling infrastructure. Its location was selected to fill a geographic gap, enabling shorter transport routes, reduced emissions, and more efficient waste management. Designed to process 104,500 tonnes annually across two modules, the facility combines innovation and scalability to help Austria achieve its sustainability ambitions.