Michael Brunn

How does EU funding affect the capacities and progress in building efficient waste management systems? This question is addressed in the report 'Waste management and the circular economy in central and eastern Europe' by Galovic savjetovanje, Bankwatch Network, Zelena Akcija and Za Zemiata, with the support of Methane Matters and Zero Waste Europe. As the title suggests, the report focuses on the eastern European member states

Even if environmental pollution is not the main focus of attention currently, the problem remains. The European Environment Agency and the Joint Research Centre have summarised the current situation in the report 'Zero pollution monitoring and outlook 2025'

The report 'Designing EPR to foster the EU's competitiveness and strategic autonomy' by Zero Waste Europe emphasises that extended producer responsibility (EPR) has been a cornerstone of waste management policy in the EU for decades. However, the nature of the task has changed. While EPR was originally intended to shift the burden of waste management from local authorities to manufacturers, it is now also intended to contribute to increasing the EU's competitiveness and strategic autonomy. The report examined whether EPR can meet these requirements. It also makes recommendations for improving current and future EPR systems.

Although plastics play an important role in almost all areas of life, there are two major problems with the material. Firstly, plastics enter the environment through improper disposal and pollution. Secondly, there is the question of how to handle the material at the end of its life. A circular economy that avoids waste and keeps materials in circulation can help to solve both problems. However, only about 9% of all plastic waste worldwide is currently recycled. The study "Disruptive technologies that deliver a circular economy for plastics", which was published by Australian scientists in "Next Sustainability", therefore looked at disruptive technologies that enable the recovery and recycling of plastics. Disruptive technologies are defined as those that significantly displace an existing technology, transform an industry, or create a new industry. The study identified bioplastics, chemical recycling, synthetic biology, traceable plastics and waste separation as the most important disruptive technologies. These were examined primarily in terms of patents.

Berlin has been working on implementing a circular economy for some time. However, as the OECD Regional Development Paper 'The Circular Economy in Berlin, Germany' shows, not much has been achieved so far. But at least the report confirms that the German capital is well placed.

The Circularity Gap Report 2025 (CGR) finds that global material consumption is outpacing population growth and generating more waste than recycling systems can handle—underscoring the need for global circular economy targets, system-level transformation, and multilateral collaboration. 

The tearing line enables Pacific Jeans to recycle waste generated during the cutting process of jeans production. 

Almost all cigarette filters are made of plastic. When discarded, they break up into microplastics and release thousands of toxic chemicals like pesticides, arsenic and heavy metals into the environment. Plastic cigarette filters are found everywhere: on playgrounds, in front of hospitals, on beaches, in parks, in rivers and oceans. By design, a plastic cigarette filter has a high probability of being disposed of in the streets. 

Each year the plant takes in 400,000 tons of manure and other agricultural waste from neighboring farms and turns it into renewable energy as well as recycled fertilizers. The renewable fertilizers are then returned to the farms in the area for reuse in agriculture.

A new report published today by BB-REG-NET reveals no robust evidence to support the long-held claim that biodegradable plastics encourage littering, challenging a key assumption that has been hindering policy development in the UK's bioeconomy sector.